A Tale of Hearts
by LightandDarkKH
Summary: Three friends wish to seek freedom from the island they call home, and hopefully find new worlds along the way. But it seems the past, the future and the present are not linked in their favor. Will their destinies come to an end like those before them? Or will they open the door to the light and step through hand in hand. [Soriku ]
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do _**Not**_own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Square Enix, or any of the Kingdom hearts characters.

* * *

**Prologue:**

_This boy… Why do I feel as if he has some strange power? His heart is so full of energy, so pure, just like... _

"Hey, miss? Did you want to tell us something?" The little brown haired boy asked curiously, his silver haired companion standing quietly at his side.

She was snapped out of her thoughts, but quickly recovered and gave the two a warm smile.

"Oh that's right, I had to tell you something didn't I?" her tone was light and playful.

She looked at both of the boys. They reminded her of two people very dear to her,

"What are your names?" She asked the two children.

"My name is Sora and this is Riku!" the small brunette exclaimed.

The woman smiled, "Well Sora, do you like Riku?" she asked.

"Of course I like Riku! He's my best friend!" the small brunet stated happily.

His friend seemed to blush at his response, but didn't say a word, he just continued to stand quietly by his side.

"Well then Sora, I want you to stick by your friend. Guide him through the darkest of times. No matter what, don't let him go, protect him. Will you please make that promise for me?" the woman asked.

The little boy smiled, "I promise!" he exclaimed.

"Don't make a stupid promise like that!" Riku yelled, his cheeks turning a light shade of crimson. "I can take care of myself! I'll prove it!"

The young boy started running; as he sprinted he looked back and yelled.

"I'll race you to the other side of the island; if I win it'll prove that I can take care of myself!"

Sora looked on for a moment as if trying to process what had happened.

Then he gasped in dismay and ran off after him, "wait Riku! You had a head start that isn't fair!" he protested.

The blue haired woman looked on with a caring smile.

"These boys are such good friends, so why… Terra why did you give that boy the power to control the Keyblade? Despite everything... all the pain that it has given us, you still…"

Riku reminded her of terra; competitive, stubborn, even slightly bashful.

Maybe the reason that he granted him the power to wield the blade was because he felt the boy was a mirror image of himself.

But there was nothing that could be done about it now, it was impossible for her to take away the young boy's power. All she could do was hope that the two friends would not have to suffer through the trials and tribulations that she faced with her own companions.

_Your heart is very kind Sora, I see true light in you; please protect your friend from the darkness.  
_

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_**Authors Notes: (You don't need to read this).**_

I hope you guys enjoyed my prologue, I would now like to inform you a little on how my story will go. This story follows the entire Kingdom Hearts series (so of course the prologue is birth by sleep.), Chapter one starts the beginning of Kingdom Hearts I, and when that arc is over, it will continue to Chain of Memories and so on... I am pleased to tell you that I am completely finished with the Kingdom Hearts I arc and am currently working on Chain of Memories. So I will be updating weekly every Friday, (mostly just so I can get ahead in Chain of Memories.) but since I am already finished with this arc, I am assuring you that I **will** update every week. Now here's the catch, I will not post chapter one until I get rates or reviews for the prologue-I am not trying to be a review whore, but I just want to know if people are reading my story, if no one is reading it, why should I publish more?

Another thing I would like to add, this fanfiction represents my headcannon for Soriku. So yes, it is a yaoi fanfiction-though in the beginning I did make it so that Sora likes Kairi-if you have a problem with the pairing soriku, akuroku, sokai, rikai, or really any pairing, I kindly suggest that you do not read my story. I made this fanfiction mainly to express how I felt soriku came to be, but much like the game, I feel there are some hints to possible relationships along the way (of course not all of them can come true.) I will retell the story of Kingdom Hearts the way I feel it happened in my head. It will be as true to the game as possible, despite me adding a few fan-service scenes here and there.

Also, one last thing; if you find mistakes in any of my stories, whether it be grammar, spelling, I made someone out of character, or anything really, _Please Tell Me. _I really despise making mistakes in my stories, but I know that it is inevitable , because no one is perfect. Please tell me if you feel I made a mistake somewhere, because then I can assure a better experience for the next reader and you will help me better myself. I'd like to thank you if you read this whole excerpt, I'm really sorry that it was so long, but I hope you will enjoy my story.

**Please Rate or Review-I don't need both, I just need some sort of evidence that there are readers out there.)**

PS: The faster I get a rate or review, the faster I will upload chapter one, I will not wait for Friday.


	2. Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom hearts, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Square Enix or the characters that they made. **

Thank you for reviewing guys! You made me extremely happy, and gave me wonderful comments! So, like I promised; here is chapter one. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 1: The Journey Begins**

_Sora: _

Sora yawned loudly as he woke from his sleep. Another nightmare had tainted his dreams, and again he could barely remember it. All that was left was the echoes of a distant voice that was hard to make-out, and the cold feeling of darkness surrounding him.

_I just want to go back to sleep._

He lay back down onto the warm sand and allowed it to comfort him, but when he opened his eyes he noticed a pair of blue orbs staring back at his. He sat up quickly, "Kairi!" he exclaimed.

The red-head giggled. "You lazy bum, you're supposed to be helping me and Riku work on the raft!" she scolded.

He scratched his head and looked down, "Sorry, I haven't been able to sleep well lately… I keep having these nightmares where I keep falling, and darkness takes me and—"

the girl gave him a playful bump to his head.

"Hey what was that for!" he complained.

"Don't give excuses!" she giggled.

"Hey aren't you guys forgetting someone?"

The two looked up in the direction the voice came from. Riku stood holding a large log, a miffed expression on his face. "You're just as lazy as he is Kairi; running off instead of doing work." He scolded.

Kairi giggled and apologized. The silver haired boy than turned his attention to Sora, and his expression turned into one of a teasing glare.

"As for you Sora, you sleep way too much." Riku scoffed playfully.

Kairi giggled at his statement, "it's true Sora, it's already 2:30!"

Sora crossed his arms and gave his best pouty face. "But I'm a growing boy! I need sleep!"

Riku crossed his arms and smirked, "correct you're a _boy_ not a _bear_."

Sora was enraged by his comment; "want to fight about it!" he yelled,

"bring it on!" Riku shot rose between them as they got in fighting position and glared at each other, growls barely escaping their throats.

"Now, now boys we have a raft to build so stop arguing!" Kairi walked between the two boys that were ready to fight because of a stupid remark. She glared at Sora, "well the only one that needs to help right now is you Sora. Riku has done his part and gathered most of the materials already."

Sora felt a pang of guilt; he dropped his stance, "I'm sorry… I really didn't mean to fall asleep, I'll help in any way I can" he said, feeling defeated.

"Riku you can go since you already helped, you said you wanted to train right?" Kairi asked.

The boy nodded and put his hands in his pockets. "Have fun Sora" he said teasingly. He then turned around and started walking toward the islet with the paopu tree. Kairi turned to Sora and started listing the things he needed to find.

* * *

_Riku_

_Ha, you deserve it stupid, who told you to fall asleep on the job._

Riku sat on the large paopu tree that stood in the middle of the small isle. He watched as Sora ran around the island collecting items for Kairi. He was glad though; soon they would be able to go on their adventure. They would no longer have to stay on the pathetic little islands they called home. He stretched out his arm and held out an open palm.

_This is the hand that I held that thing with; what did that man call it… a Keyblade? _

He thought back to that time. He was five years old; he had met a man that did not belong to their world. Riku was smart enough to figure that out.

"_You're not from here are you? How did you get here?_"

The young man was surprised to see how sharp the young boy was. "_How did you know?_" The man asked quizzically.

"_Well no one lives here, and you definitely aren't from the main island. So where are you from?_"

The man smiled "_smart kid, but why do you care about the outside world?_" he asked.

Riku blinked and turned to face the ocean, "_I want to be strong someday, and I know I'll get stronger if I leave this world._"

The man raised an eyebrow, "_You're just a kid, what do you need strength for?_" he asked.

Riku turned to the man and smiled, "_to protect the things that matter, like my friends_" he proclaimed, a little bit of pink tinting his cheeks.

The brunet was surprised to see how pure the child's intentions were. He got closer to the boy, "_Be careful, outside this small world is a much bigger one, and it's full of dangers._"

He took out his Keyblade; the young boy looked at this key shaped blade that seemed to manifest from the air. "_In your hand take this key._" The man said. "_So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking…its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me friend—no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above; so long as you champion the ones that you love._"

Riku looked down at the blade; he wanted to protect Sora—he was the one most important to him after all—so he reached out his hand and grabbed the Keyblade. They both stayed there a moment looking at the blade; until the silence was broken by Sora's call,

"_Riku!_"

The young man made the Keyblade disappear, "_Keep this a secret or else the magic won't work, ok?_" the brunet whispered. The boy looked at him and nodded. Riku ran to his friend and they both walked off arguing and ranting about simple things.

Riku clenched his palm into a fist; those were the days before Kairi came. They were so happy together then. Riku never really wanted to share his friend with the girl, but Sora was so kind, that he eventually had no choice.

_It doesn't matter, with the Keyblade, I will protect him. I know the outside world is dangerous but I won't allow Sora to get hurt._

Riku had noticed something; Sora was no longer collecting items. He had now challenged Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, but this time was different_._ He had taken them all on _at the same time_. He also seemed to be winning. Soon one by one they fell on the sand, defeated. Riku smirked,

_He's gotten better he'll probably challenge me again today. Heh, but he won't win, not against me._

As Riku predicted, after Sora had won, he ran to the silver haired boy. "Hey Riku guess what?" Sora asked arrogantly.

"You actually did the work Kairi told you to do? Or did you finally grow an inch?"

Sora seemed too happy to care about Riku's insults. "Today is the day I beat you!" Sora proclaimed triumphantly, pointing his wooden sword at Riku.

"Ok let's get this over with" Riku said lazily as he got up from the paopu tree. They both got into their fighting stances. "You challenged me; you say when we can start."

Sora glared at him for a while, his deep blue eyes like daggers. "Start!" as soon as Sora had yelled that, he dashed toward Riku. He expected that though, it was much like Sora. Riku evaded his attack easily; now that Sora's back was to him he slashed at it with his wooden sword. Sora became agitated; he quickly spun around and swung at him. Riku had jumped back though, again expecting Sora to do such a move. "Don't be rash Sora; your attacks are too easy to re-"

he couldn't finish his sentence; Sora had dashed into Riku making him fall to the ground. The brunet smiled triumphantly.

_He's better than I thought, but still… _Riku smirked; he pulled his legs in and extended them out, using the force of the momentum to get back up and kick Sora in his abdomen. Sora stumbled and lost his breath, but didn't fall; he looked up at Riku who was in his fighting stance again. "Don't get so cocky after getting one hit."

He then dashed forward, the boy attempted to evade it by dodging to the side but Riku expected that. He swung at Sora using more force than before. He sent Sora flying into a tree. The boy had a pained expression on his face but he persisted, he hurled himself forward one last time. Riku didn't move though, he waited until Sora was close enough and then he tripped him onto the ground; he then straddled his waist and pinned his arms above his head. He squeezed the boy's wrist until he let go of his wooden sword.

Riku stared into Sora's eyes and smirked. "I win again." Sora's face flushed, his best friend had defeated him again. Riku stood up, still smirking; he extended his hand to help Sora get up. Sora was embarrassed, and his face showed it, but despite that, he took his hand.

"I almost had you!" Sora protested.

The silver haired boy just laughed, "yeah, and I almost flew yesterday" he mocked.

Sora pouted and looked at the floor, but he looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Seriously though, you really have improved. Keep it up and you'll beat me someday." Riku said warmly. The brunet blushed and looked away, obviously not expecting a compliment, or any form of encouragement. He looked back at Riku and grinned,

"Yeah, someday."

* * *

_Sora:_

_It's not fair, he always wins! I thought I would have a chance today! I trained so hard too…_

Sora made his way back to Kairi with that pouty expression that he's so well known for.

"You lost again?" Kairi asked smiling.

Sora jumped back, "how did you know!" he asked surprised.

"Well besides the fact that I can see you guys from here; you only make that face when you lose to Riku." She said giggling.

Sora's face went back to a pout, and he stared at the ground again. Kairi went up to him and lowered her head to make eye contact with him. "Don't worry you'll beat him! Riku can't win forever; you'll get your chance. And you've gotten better right?"

Sora blushed and remembered what Riku had said.

"_Seriously though, you really have improved. Keep it up and you'll beat me someday._"

Kairi grinned; she got closer to Sora and pulled his cheeks into a smile, "Until then, keep smiling ok?" Sora blushed deeply at what she said.

"Am I intruding?" A slightly agitated voice spoke.

Sora jumped, "R-Riku! What are you doing here?!" the boys face was red.

"Why _can't_ I be here? I'm done with everything; I think it's about time we wrap it up for the day." The silver haired boy said coldly.

This made Sora upset; _what's with your tone? _

"Riku's right, we're done for the day. Why don't we pack up and watch the sunset together?" Kairi said happily.

Both of the boys turned to look at her; "ok" they said.

The three children sat on the paopu tree and looked out over the ocean at the sunset.

"So Kairi, your home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked, instigating conversation.

"Could be, but we'll never know if we stay here." Riku cut in.

_Oh excuse me; I didn't know that you changed your name to Kairi._

"Well how far can a raft take us?" Sora asked.

Riku crossed his arms, "who knows, but we have to try. If we really need to, we'll think of something else."

Kairi giggled, "Well what do we do if we actually do make it to another world?" she asked.

Riku looked up, not expecting that question. "Hmm well I guess I haven't really thought about that… It's just; I've always wondered why we ended up on this island? If there are other worlds, why are we on this one? Also supposing there are other worlds… that must mean ours is just a piece of something greater. So that means we could have easily landed anywhere else, right?"

_Riku you're such a show-off!_

Sora laid down on the trunk of the paopu tree "I don't know."

Riku smiled, and stood up; "exactly; that's why we need to get out there and find out. If we just sit here, it won't change a thing."

Kairi looked at Riku questioningly "Looks like you've thought this through a lot, huh?"

Riku smirked and turned to her, "And it's all thanks to you. If you would have never come here, I would have never thought of any of this."

Sora looked up for a second but then looked away.

_Is it possible? Does he…_

"Kairi, thanks." Riku said smiling.

The young red head giggled nervously; obviously not expecting any form of gratitude from the boy. 'Heh, you're welcome."

The three children walked off the little isle, Sora was ahead of Riku.

"Hey Sora!" Riku called out. He tossed a paopu fruit to the boy, the brunet looked at it questioningly. "You wanted one, didn't you? I remember you asking me once."

"A paopu fruit?" Sora asked; clearly confused.

"Don't you know the story of it? If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what."

Sora had a slight blush on his cheeks, Riku smiled and passed him. "Come on, I know you want to try it" he said teasingly.

Sora's face got red, "w-what are you talking about!?" Riku only laughed and kept walking.

_He, can't like Kairi right? _He tossed the fruit and kept walking.

* * *

_Riku:_

The next day, Riku was at the island before anyone else. He was working on the raft.

_I always end up doing more work than everyone else huh? Oh well, it was my idea._

Riku continued working on the raft in solitude, the only sounds where the waves lapping at the shore, and the sounds of him tugging at the rope.

_I like being alone though… It lets me think… Heh I can never think with that big moron causing all sorts of trouble. _

Riku paused for a second. _I wonder if it's true… Sora you like Kairi don't you? All those stupid times we had together, I guess they're over huh?_

"Sora…" Riku whispered softly.

The island didn't liven up until mid-day. Riku was walking across the island when he heard Kairi on the other side,

"hey Riku! Looks like Sora is late again! Want to help me look for food that we'll take on the raft?"

_Of course he's late._

"Ok I'll be right there." As he was walking over there he noticed Tidus practicing on the islet.

_I wonder if Sora will wonder where I am if I'm not on that isle? Oh well._

The girl started listing the things Riku had to find to take on the trip, but he wasn't really listening. _Maybe I can make him jealous of me? If I pretend I'm after Kairi he'll get all upset and flustered. Heh, it's always fun to see him like that._

Riku smirked, "Hey Kairi I have an idea; why don't we look for the stuff together?"

Kairi blushed slightly, "Ok…"

Riku's job was to search for coconuts, while Kairi's job was to hunt down a seagull egg. Riku wacked the coconut tree several times until the coconuts finally fell.

"I'm done. I got all the-"

Riku didn't finish. Kairi was trying to grab a seagull egg from a nest but she lost her footing and slipped.

"Shi-"

Riku dashed forward, catching Kairi in his arms just in the nick of time. The frightened red head had her eyes closed and she was trembling.

"Are you ok?"

Her eyes flicked open to find that the boy was staring right at her; from her angle, the suns light made his silver hair glisten. Her face got red; "I-I'm fine!" She stuttered.

"That's good, you sure you can walk?" he said sounding slightly worried.

"R-Riku… Kairi?"

Riku looked up to see Sora standing there looking at them, his face red. Riku smirked,

_good this will work._

"Hey Sora, you were late. So I had to come to Kairi's rescue." He said putting Kairi down.

Sora frowned, "I'm sorry…"

Kairi ran up to him smiling, "don't worry! I'm safe see! Riku saved me!" That didn't seem to help Sora, he still looked upset.

"Well, I'll be on the other side of the island working on the raft. Sora you can help Kairi collect food now." Riku shoved his hands into his pockets and turned away, heading toward the side of the island the raft was on.

_Sora, you're too easy._

Riku didn't really do anything with the raft; he had already finished working on it in the morning. All he really did was adjust the sail and think.

_So I guess he does like her? Sora never really was good at keeping things hidden. I guess I don't hate Kairi, I just don't… I don't know… I saved her though, but mostly because I know Sora would be upset to know that she got hurt; especially while I was there._

Since he spent so much time thinking he never noticed when Sora and Kairi had returned from gathering food.

"Hey Riku!" Sora yelled happily; his mood had obviously improved from before.

Riku smiled, "hey Sora, I'm done with the raft, want to help me name it?"

Sora ran up to him, "sure, hmmm, what have you thought of?"

Riku put his hand on his chin, "How about High wind? What do you think?"

Sora crossed his arms and thought…for a while.

"Hey Sora, did you die?"

The brunette hit his fist on top of his other fist, "I got it! Excalibur!"

Riku rolled his eyes, "it took you that long to think of that dumb name?"

Sora just grinned. "Well how about this? We race?" Riku said pointing to the course leading to some type of star on a cliff.

"Sure! If I win, ummm I'm captain. If you win you-" Sora was cut off,

"I get to share the paopu fruit with Kairi." Riku said seriously.

Sora's face grew red, "what!?"

Riku smirked, "well how about it? The winner gets to share a paopu fruit with Kairi."

Sora seemed to get mad; _it's too much fun messing with you, plus if you lose maybe you'll give up on her, and things can stay how they are._

"Hey guys! Are you at it again? I'll be the referee!" Kairi yelled, clearly she hadn't heard what Riku had said.

"Ok, that'd be great!" the silver haired boy said smirking. The two boys walked over to where the red head was.

"Get in your starting positions…" The two boys readied themselves, "Go!"

Riku sprinted off first, Sora close behind. The first route had a trap in it, but Riku already knew. He allowed Sora to catch up and when he stepped on the flimsy piece of wood on the bridge he jumped up letting it, and Sora collapse into the water. Sora looked up, glaring at the boy. Riku only laughed and dismissed Sora with a wave of his hand.

_This is great; there is no way he can catch up now. But I should still take precautions; I'll take the zip line. _

When he got to the top of the tower he looked out to see that Sora had taken the longer route to the star.

_Forced to take the long way now; I'm glad you didn't give up though, or else it would be too easy._

The zip line was fast and a great thrill for Riku; though he wouldn't show it. After all, Sora would never let him live it down if he shouted "_woohoo!_" while on it. Riku made it to the star first, but Sora was very close. Riku touched the star and hopped on the nearest palm tree to get back to the red-head before Sora. He was confident that he was going to win.

_Hmph, he won't pass me now. _

He noticed a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Sora had passed him somehow; Riku expected some smart remark from him but, nothing; the brunette was completely serious in this race.

_You really don't want me to win huh? Fine I won't go easy on you. _

Riku put all his energy in passing the brunet, once they had passed the palm trees he dashed toward Kairi but the two boys were neck and neck. The silver haired boy was not going to lose though; he used a last burst of energy, despite the burning complaint his lungs and muscles gave, he wasn't about to let him win.

Despite how close they were, Riku pulled ahead and won. Both boys were out of breath.

"Riku wins!" Kairi declared.

No one cheered though, the two boys just glared at each other; they were still out of breath.

"Umm I'll bring you guys some water! I'll be right back."

The boys were silent. Riku stood up straight and tried to compose himself, "So the rafts name is going to be High wind."

Sora looked at Riku in shock, "B-but, what about the paopu fruit?" Sora asked confused.

"I lied; you should've seen the look on your face." Riku said chuckling.

Sora blushed and stared in dismay, "why would you do that!" The brunette continued to whine and started to pelt Riku with his fist. The silver haired boy only laughed.

_No girl is worth losing Sora over… Sora is my friend and even if he likes her, I guess I'll just have to deal with it._

* * *

_Sora:_

_Stupid Riku…Why does he like to tease me. That whole thing about wanting to share a paopu fruit with Kairi, was that all a lie? _

Sora was lost in thought as he looked through the bushes to find the last item that they needed.

"Uhhhhh!" Sora sat down and protested. "Where are all the mushrooms on this island!? I found two, but where can I find the last one."

Riku passed by at that moment; "you need a mushroom?"

Sora jumped, not expecting his friend to be behind him. "U-Uh yea… I do…"

The silver haired boy thought for a second and came up with an answer for the young brunet. "Well a mushroom is a fungus; and fungus like dark and moist places, so your best bet is to go to the secret place near the waterfall."

Sora stood up and stuck his tongue out at his friend; "Stop showing off! You're too smart" Sora said smirking. "But, I guess it's a good thing. I don't know what I'd do without a smart friend like you Riku."

Riku's face turn a light shade of pink, but he looked away. "Hey, it's not my fault you're so stupid. I don't know what you would do without me either."

Strangely that didn't anger Sora; he knew his friend was only embarrassed about getting a compliment.

_Riku is always like that whenever I tell him something nice he gets embarrassed; it's kind of cute ha-ha._

Sora smiled and told Riku he had to leave to leave to finish his task, and both boys waved good-bye.

Sora reached the entrance to the "secret place", near the waterfall. That cave held many memories of times Sora spent with Riku and Kairi. As he entered it though, the cave felt strangely cold, and eerie. He ignored it though and kept walking. When he got to the section of the cave where he and his friends scribbled on the walls, he saw it.

"Yeah! The mushroom! I found it!" He yelled happily; as he put the fungus in his bag he noticed the old drawing that he had made of Kairi and him. He walked up to the doodle smiling.

_I remember when I made this, back when I first met Kairi. We both made this picture._

Sora looked at it for a second and then got a stone.

_I have an idea…_

He used the stone to scratch and mark the wall. What he drew was a paopu fruit in between the picture of him and Kairi.

_Maybe someday… I'll be able to share one with you Kairi…_

Sora blushed at his thoughts, until he heard a noise behind him. He jumped, "who's there!"

When he turned around, what he saw was a strange figure in a brown robe.

"I've come to see the door to this world." Spoke the man, in a deep menacing voice.

"What?" Sora asked, confused.

"This world has been connected" Spoke the man.

"W-what are you talking about?" Sora was kind of nervous at this point.

The voice went on though, "tied to the darkness… soon to be completely eclipsed."

Sora clenched his fist, "well whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this! Wait… Where did you come from?"

The man did not answer his question, "you do not yet know what lies behind this door."

Sora looked at the man questioningly.

"There is so very much to learn… You understand so little…"

The boy gritted his teeth,

"oh yeah!? Well I don't care, I'm going to get out and learn what's out there! You'll see!"

The hooded figure remained quiet for a few seconds. "A meaningless effort… One, who knows nothing, can understand nothing."

Sora was going to lash out at the man again, but he heard an eerie sound coming from the door on the wall of the cave. He turned to look at it, and when he looked back, the man had disappeared.

_That's so creepy… Who was that guy? What did he mean when he said that "This world has been connected"? This is so strange…_

Sora left the cave and ran back to Kairi to give her the mushrooms.

The day was practically over and the raft was finished. Sora and Kairi sat at the edge of the dock together; watching the sunset.

"You know… Riku has changed…" said Kairi shyly.

"What do you mean?" asked Sora; though he had noticed the changes in his friend as well. Riku _had _changed, he no longer seemed to be extremely possessive over Sora, he seemed to have become more accepting of Kairi and he's become so focused lately on leaving this world.

"Well… hmm…" Kairi had a slight tint of pink on her cheeks.

"You ok?" asked Sora, worried.

"Sora, let's take the raft and go! Just the two of us!" Kairi said excitedly.

"Huh?"

_Riku is arrogant, and a know-it-all, and likes to tease me, but he's my best friend! I can't leave him! _

"Just kidding!" laughed Kairi; Sora relaxed and gave his friend a worried look,

"What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed Kairi." He said chuckling.

The young red-head continued to look at the sunset; a serious expression on her face. "Maybe… You know… I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready! No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right Sora?" She looked at Sora, her blues eyes staring into his.

Sora blushed, "yeah of course!"

Kairi smiled, "that's good… Sora, don't ever change, ok?"

The young boy looked at her with a confused expression, "what do you mean?"

Kairi stood up, "I just can't wait, once we set sail, it'll be great I know it…"

Sora lay in his room. It was dark and he wasn't sleeping he just looked up at the ceiling and thought.

_Today was a weird day… First Riku challenges me to that race saying that the winner could share the paopu fruit with Kairi and then he takes it back by saying he was just kidding… Does he actually like Kairi? Is that why he has become more accepting of her? Also that hooded man, who was he? He said strange things and he was really creepy… Kairi too, she said a bunch of stuff but never really made it clear what she was talking about. What did she mean by "Riku has changed"? Well he has, but in what way does she think he's changed?_

Sora looked at the toy boat on his ceiling, and Kairi's words popped into his head again.

"_I just can't wait, once we set sail, it'll be great I know it._"

A flash of lightning and the roar of thunder interrupted his thoughts. Sora sat up abruptly, and looked out his window,

"A storm!?"

_If I don't do something the raft will be washed away!_ Sora left his bed and ran outside as quickly as he could.

Once Sora made it to the island, he noticed a large ball of some strange light floating in the sky.

"What _is_ that?"

Sora then noticed that Riku and Kairi's boats were docked.

_So they are here too? _

Sora didn't have much time to think, he soon noticed _creatures_ appearing from the ground. They looked like living shadows. Soon they all started attacking him, Sora took out his wooden sword to defend himself, but his attacks didn't seem to faze them.

_I have no choice! I have to make a run for it!_

Sora dashed across the island until he noticed a figure standing in the middle of the small atoll.

_Riku!_

Sora ran toward him,

"Riku! Where is Kairi?! I thought she was with you!" suddenly Sora became upset with his friend for not protecting the girl.

"The door has opened…" Said Riku, his back turned to his friend.

"What?" asked Sora, he didn't understand what his friend was talking about.

"The door has opened Sora! Now we can leave to the outside world!" said Riku excitedly.

"What are you talking about?! We've got to find Kairi!"

"Kairi's coming with us!" His friend shot back.

Sora gave him a glare.

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back… We may never see our parents again… There is no turning back! This may be our only chance though; we can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

_Are you insane Riku! What are you talking about!?_

Riku held out his hand, and Sora stared at his friend.

"Riku…"

Dark aura started to surround Riku's feet; fear shot through the boy at the thought of losing his friend he dashed toward him.

_Riku no! What's happening!?_

When he reached his friend the dark aura started to swallow Riku whole, it had also trapped Sora in place. In desperation he reached for Riku's hand.

_Riku grab my hand you idiot! I don't want anything to happen to you! _

Sora could not reach his hand, and soon darkness had engulfed him. In that darkness though, a bright light appeared, growing in intensity with every second. Sora appeared again on the isle but with a key shaped blade in his hand; Riku was nowhere in sight.

The shadow creatures attacked him ferociously now, but something had changed. Now when Sora struck at them they would disappear.

He ran toward the cave, knowing that is the only door on the island he could possibly think of. When he got there he noticed that the cave entrance was no longer a whole, but a very regal looking white door. He ran through it, when he reached the deepest part of the cave he noticed Kairi standing in the middle.

"Kairi!" He yelled.

She turned around slowly, "Sora…"

She sounded sick, and she was very pale. She reached out her hand to the boy, but when she did the door behind her opened, darkness and wind poured out, sending Kairi flying straight at Sora. He tried to catch her but, like a ghost, she passed right through his body.

_What!? _

Sora was sent flying out of the cave. Where he landed was strange to him, it looked like a… a chunk of the island, but it was floating extremely close to the glowing orb in the sky.

_What is this!? Am I dreaming?_

He turned around and noticed a huge shadowy creature appearing before him.

_He doesn't look very friendly, but if he wants a fight, I'll give him one! _

Sora drew his blade, and ran toward the monster. The creature tried to grab Sora with its hands but Sora lashed at it with his blade. The monster would shoot out orbs of light from the center of its chest but Sora continued to attack its hands. Then the monster brought both of his hands together and slammed them on the ground, creating a dark circle. When Sora approached the hands, shadowy creatures from before lashed at him. But the boy was resilient; he continued to attack, despite the creatures.

The monster brought his face closer to the ground as if trying to inspect the thing attacking it. Sora didn't waste a second;

_this is for my friends!_

He dashed toward the creatures face and struck it with his blade. The dark ball in the sky started to pull them in, both the creature and Sora. The monster-like thing flew off into it, but Sora held on to the remnants of a bridge.

_I can't hold on much longer!_

Sora's thoughts were right, his fingers began to slip, and he too was sucked up into the mysterious orb.

**End of Chapter One**

* * *

Long chapter huh? Most of my chapters are like that, I hope you enjoy them though! Rate or review if you want! I love getting feedback, the next chapter will be up on Friday, "Chapter Two: State of Confusion" is next. Sora makes it to a new world, now what!?


	3. Chapter 2: State of Confusion

[**Disclaimer: **I do **_NOT_**own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy or any of their characters.]

Hey guys! Sorry it took a while to update(well not really, it's Friday like I promised, but I got home late because I was resolving some matters...), well anyway-in this chapter, we follow Sora as he desperately tries to find his friends in a new world, but maybe the outside worlds aren't as wonderful as he once thought? [remember how I promised fan service? Well...]

* * *

**Chapter 2: State of Confusion**

_Sora:_

"_Riku, Kairi, don't go!" _

_Sora watched helplessly as his two friends were consumed by a shadowy Aura. He was unable to move, it was as if his feet were chained to the ground. Kairi called out in silent screams and held her hand out toward the boy, but Sora could not take a step towards the frightened red-head, he was unable to save her. The scene around him started to warp, and his feet started to become ensnarled by darkness as well._

_The brunet looked at Riku and noticed that the boy was sneering at him; the silver haired boy held out his hand. "Come with me." He said in a dark voice that was so unlike him._

_Sora looked at his two friends; both in the same situation but their actions were completely contradictory. Nevertheless, he was unable to go to either one of them, he was so… helpless._

_He watched as they were slowly consumed by the dark aura. _

_The next second, they were gone. _

_He stared wide-eyed at the spots they were in just a few moments ago. His eyes started to cloud with tears, he reached his hand out, _

"_No come back…_" _he chocked._

_Suddenly a finger lifted his chin up and he looked into piercing lightly teal eyes. The person smiled a sadistic smile, _

"_I'm not going anywhere you big moron, you're coming with me._"

_Sora blinked, Riku, who had disappeared, was now just inches from his face. _

_The brunet blushed, "wh-what do you want Riku?" he stammered._

_The silver-haired boy chuckled, "I think I've made that obvious for a while now." _

_The boy slowly dragged his gloved finger down Sora's neck, causing the helpless brunet to squirm. _

_"S-stop it Riku, I'm ticklish!" he protested. _

_The silver haired boy smirked, "oh yeah, that's true. You've always been so innocent." The boy brought his face closer to Sora's ear, "So tell me Sora… does this still tickle?" he whispered. _

_The boy's warm breath sent shivers down his spine. The next thing he felt was a warm, moist sensation gliding up his chin. _

_Sora's eyes widened, "No! Stop it Riku this is wrong, get off!" he shouted, pushing against the boy's torso with his hands._

_The silver haired boy stopped immediately, and the look in his eyes was a mixture of shame and sorrow. He looked down, a pained expression on his face; the next thing he said was not audible to Sora, but it seemed like he mouthed "I'm sorry." _

Sora groaned and opened his eyes drowsily,

"What a strange dream…"

his eyes started to feel heavy once more, and he drifted back into sleep.

Suddenly he felt a shove which made his eyes flick open. "Ah! It's not a dream!" he yelled.

He looked down, to notice a yellow dog looking up at him and wagging his tail.

"So _you_ were licking my face?"

The boy cupped his head in his hands, "You have no idea what a nightmare you gave me." he groaned.

He lifted his head and looked around; he realized that he was in a dark alley that was littered with large boxes. "This isn't our island… could this be another world?" he asked himself; his voice full of wonder.

The young brunette looked down at the cartoony yellow dog once again,

"Do you know where we are boy?"

The dog gave him a blank stare and continued panting, he lifted one of his ears and looked back, as if someone had called its name. The bright yellow canine turned around and ran off, leaving the brunet alone in the alley.

_Well now what am I supposed to do?_

Sora looked around at the high brick walls and large crates and barrels; he couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement.

_I made it! I made it to the outside world!_

He then frowned at his thoughts.

_It's not complete though… Not without, Riku and Kairi… I hope they're ok…._

Sora began to walk around the town. Besides all the lights and large brick buildings, one thing seemed to really stand out in this town, every corner was littered with shops.

_Maybe if I go in one of the stores I can ask these people where I am... Not like that helps at all but… maybe they've seen my friends._

He walked into one of the biggest shops he could find.

"Hey! Who do you think-Oh it's only a kid…"

Sora gave the shop keeper an angry look, _I'm not a kid!_

The shop keeper was man with blond hair probably in his forties.

Sora grinned as he thought of a way to get him back,

"Hey gramps!" Sora teased.

The man's blood seemed to boil at the boy's comment, "Who the heck are you calling gramps?!" he shouted angrily.

The young boy only grinned happily at his success.

The middle aged man scratched the back of his head; clearly embarrassed that he had fallen for the kids plan.

"So what's your name kid?" he asked.

The boy's grin faded, "My name is Sora…"

The man looked at the boy for a while, "Well Sora, why the long face. Are you lost or something?"

"Not exactly… It's more like I've lost my friends…" the brunet said sadly.

The man looked at Sora with a puzzled expression, so he proceeded to explain the events that had occurred to him in his world.

"Oh so that's what happened to you? Too bad, it seems your world got swallowed up by the darkness."

Sora had a confused expression on his face,

"the darkness? So where am I? And where are my friends?"

The blond man's expression turned soft and sad as if pitying the young boy.

"This is Traverse Town; this is where people who have lost their worlds go. Your friends could also be here, if they aren't here though…"

Sora noticed the man's expression and did not want him to finish his sentence,

"So this place is called traverse town? Ok good to know gramps; I'll be off then."

He turned as to signal that the conversation was over,

"Stop calling me gramps! My name is Cid— oh, and good luck finding your friends, if you run into trouble just call me."

The brunet looked over his shoulder and smiled at the man named Cid.

"Thanks but I won't need it." And with those words he left.

He continued to look around town until he noticed two large doors with a sign next to it.

_2__nd__ district, they have to be somewhere in here._

Sora pushed the large doors open and walked through. As soon as he had step foot through the doors, he noticed a man running in fear of something; something the boy couldn't really see.

The man fell in front of him, cowering at an unseen enemy. Then the strangest thing happened, the man disappeared, and the only thing that remained was a glimmering pink heart.

Sora stared at the thing in wonder, but as he approached it, the heart floated upward and turned into some creature in armor. The creature slightly resembled the shadow like monsters that attacked his world. It looked at him and ran in the opposite direction.

_What just happened?_

Before Sora could react, he was surrounded by a bunch of the same shadowy creatures that attacked his home. His only weapon showed up in his hand; strangely enough, he was comfortable with it, as if a key manifesting from thin air was something absolutely normal in his life. All he knew was that he had to defeat these creatures, and the key gave him the power to do so.

All at once, the shadowy figures jumped him; he felt slightly overwhelmed but was not about to give up.

He slashed at the creatures, expecting them to disappear like they did on the island.

They did not;

_does the Key not work anymore? Or are these just stronger? _

He refused to believe that his only source of defense was gone, so he continued to strike the creatures. After receiving a few more hits, two creatures had disappeared; proving his thoughts.

The battle was not finished yet though, a creature jumped in the air and slashed at Sora's chest, tearing his clothing.

The attack surprised him but he wasn't down and out yet.

He continued relentlessly to vanquish the creatures, in the end he won, and he felt a strange source of strength surge through him; as if the battle had made him stronger.

He looked down at the large Key in his hand,

_is this the "trouble" Cid was talking about?_

He squeezed the Key in his hands,

_it doesn't matter! I'll fight through all of these creatures to find my friends! _

He began to search through the second district; randomly encountering different creatures that all possessed the same shadowy aura as the ones he faced earlier. It was different now though, it was not that the creatures where easier to face, it was that he himself had become more capable. But even then, he knew he couldn't continue fighting them for long; it wasn't getting him anywhere.

_Maybe I __**should**__ go back to Cid's shop._

He turned back toward the 1st district, but when he opened the doors many shadowy figures jumped him.

Sora had become fatigued from fighting so many of them before. He attempted to fend them off but he couldn't, so he ran towards Cid's shop as fast as he could.

He burst through the door and slammed it shut, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

"Too many of them for you?" the middle aged man said; his arms crossed and a smug smirk on his face.

The boy just glared at him.

"If you want, you can heal up in here. I have some potions that will heal any injuries you have." offered Cid.

Sora remembered that potions where used on his island too, they were a form of medicine that doctors and just about anyone used on injuries that weren't too severe.

He accepted the potion that Cid offered him, and instantly he felt its effects. The cuts he gained started disappearing; it felt as if his very being was starting to heal.

"Thank you…" Sora said shyly, he didn't want to give in to the man's offer of help, but he had no real choice.

The brunet looked out the window,

"don't tell me you're going to go outside again? Do you have a death-wish kid?" Cid asked, sounding slightly amused.

Sora scowled, "I don't care if there are a thousand of them out there; I won't stop until I figure out where my friends are!"

He opened the door and looked over his shoulder, "Thanks again for your help…"

Cid only smirked, "sure anytime kid!"

The brunet stepped out the door and slammed it shut.

He expected the creatures to pop out again, but there was nothing… silence had washed over the town.

_Did they give up?_

"They'll come at you out of nowhere you know…" A deep voice said from behind him.

Sora turned around-Keyblade in hand- to find a tall, built man with long brown hair and a large scar running between his eyes, standing before him.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously; he didn't really know who he could trust so he had to be cautious.

"And they'll keep coming at you" the man raised his arm to point at Sora's Key. "As long as you continue to wield the Keyblade…"

_ Keyblade? _

"But why… Why would it choose a kid like you?" The man asked shaking his head.

Sora glared at the man, "what is that supposed to mean!?"

The older brunet seemed to recover from his thoughts, "never mind… Now let's see that Keyblade…"

he walked toward Sora reaching out his hand to grab the blade.

"What!? No, you can't have it! You're just going to have to take it from me!" the boy shouted.

_Without this thing, I can't find Riku and Kairi!_

The man stopped and glared at the boy, "all right, have it your way then."

He pulled out a long, pointed sword with a gun fastened to the hilt.

The man slashed at the air as to intimidate Sora.

The boy swallowed hard;

_can I really beat someone like this? _

He squeezed his Keyblade,

_of course I can, I have to!_

Sora dashed toward the man, he didn't have much of a strategy in mind, as long as he gave more hits then he received he would win; at least that's how it worked in his mind.

The man didn't move, he raised his hand toward the boy and a ball of fire was launched toward him_._

Caught off guard, but quick on his feet, he jumped to the side to evade the attack.

_H-how did he do that!? _

The man showed no expression of joy, arrogance, or even pity toward the confused boy. The look on his face was cold and apathetic.

He walked toward the young brunet; holding the thick sword against his shoulder.

Sora felt himself freeze up, it was impossible to not be intimidated by such a strong opponent.

As the man approached, the boy squeezed his Keyblade,

_No, I refuse to give up. I refuse to lose!_

Sora glared at the man and lunged forward.

He attempted to lash at Sora with his sword, but failed; missing by a few centimeters, but the sound of the blade slicing through the air was still enough to make your blood run cold.

Sora gulped, knowing that if he got hit by the sword, it would most likely mean the end.

In spite of that he continued to persevere. He slashed at the man with his Keyblade, causing him to grunt in pain. But despite Sora's attacks, the man did not falter. He lashed at the boy again with his sword, this time, grazing his shoulder.

Stinging pain coursed through his body, but he refused to give in; he ran toward the man and as he prepared to launch another fireball, Sora jumped up, evading his attack.

The man was surprised, but before he could react, Sora was on him, he slashed at the man's shoulder blade, and again at his abdomen.

The older brunet grunted and stumbled a couple of steps, but he didn't fall. As Sora approached, the man lashed at his stomach and successfully hit him.

He was blown back after receiving the full force of the impact. He lay on the ground, the man walked toward him, holding onto his stomach, he pointed his sword at Sora; "it's over…" he said.

Sora felt the warm sensation of blood on his shirt, but he only smirked,

_that's what you think!_

He pulled in his legs and extended them out-despite the pain that it caused him- he used the momentum to kick the sword out of the man's hands, and hitting him straight in his abdomen. A signature move that he learned from Riku at the islands.

_I hope you don't mind me using your move Riku; I kind of needed it…_

Sora smirked and walked toward the man that had been kicked against the wall.

The man looked up at the younger brunet; who had now pointed his Keyblade toward his face.

"No, _now _it's over."

The older brunet looked at Sora, shocked and wide-eyed, "No—there is no way I could lose against a kid."

As he said that Sora felt his weight shift and he stumbled back; he started to fall. He had suffered severe injuries from the fight; his body couldn't support him anymore.

He fell to the ground, his back hitting the floor. As he lay there he heard a female voice appear, "aw, you're slipping Leon."

The man who was apparently named Leon, only scoffed at her comment; "I went easy on him... Looks like things are worse than we thought… A lot worse…"

The boy's vision began to get hazy, and he slid out of consciousness.

He awoke to the sound of Kairi's voice

"wake up you lazy bum!"

Sora opened his eyes and sat up.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

he rubbed the back of his head; _I must have fallen pretty hard my head hurts… but why is Kairi here? _

"Yeah I guess I'm ok…"

Kairi smiled, "Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade; well more accurately they are after your heart since it gives you the power to wield it."

He looked up at her in wonder, disregarding what she had said.

"I'm so glad that you're ok Kairi." He said sounding truly relieved.

She only gave him a confused look, "Kairi? Who are you talking about? _I'm _the great ninja Yuffie!"

Sora blinked and rubbed his eyes. When he looked at the girl again she was no longer the red-head that he cared so deeply for, but a girl in her teens with short raven hair and brown eyes.

She stared at him with a worried look in her eyes; that expression only lasted for a second, soon she was smiling and laughing again.

"Ha-ha, I think you might have overdone it Squall!" she said laughing.

"The name is Leon, and I went easy on him until he forced my hand…"

The tall man with the scar entered the room; he set the Keyblade near the door.

Sora stared at it, "The Keyblade…"

Yuffie began to walk toward Leon "Yeah.., Sorry we had to take it away from you, but it was the only way to shake off those creatures. It turns out that's how they were tracking you."

Leon crossed his arms, "it was the only way to conceal your heart from them, but it won't work for long."

Sora looked down; his thoughts were still lingering on the disappointment that Kairi was just an illusion.

"Still of all people… Hard to believe you are the chosen one." Leon picked up the Keyblade and slashed at the air; the key glowed and disappeared; appearing in Sora's hands.

The young man shrugged and started walking towards the brunet, "well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers…"

Sora glared at the man that was now directly in front of him; "why don't you start making sense, what's going on here?!"

Yuffie giggled, "Calm down and we'll tell you!"

Sora huffed and crossed his arms; not knowing whether he could trust these people after being attacked. He looked up at Leon, and then again to Yuffie, and gave an exhausted sigh.

_I guess I really have no choice, they didn't kill me, and they are technically protecting me from those things. _

"Fine, I'm calm. Can you tell me now?" he said looking directly at Yuffie.

She grinned happily in return, "Ok! I'll start off by saying that there are many different worlds besides this one and your own, but they are supposed to be a secret and closed off from each other."

Sora tilted his head slightly, but then nodded to express that he understood.

"Well they are not meant to be connected, but now because of the heartless; everything has changed."

The boy looked at her questioningly, "heartless?"

Sora blinked and Yuffie was now sitting next to him. "Those creatures that attacked you remember?"

Leon stood still staring at Sora, which made the boy blush slightly. He was nervous at how intense the man's look was; it was very familiar.

"Those without hearts; that is what they are…" the man explained.

Yuffie shifted her sitting position, "They feed on the darkness in people's hearts."

"And there is darkness in every person's heart…" Leon added, finishing the raven-haired girl's sentence; he didn't lift his eyes from the young Keyblade wielder.

Sora shifted under the uncomfortable gaze,

_Stop staring at me like that! _

"Have you heard of a man named Ansem? He used to study the heartless, and he wrote a very detailed report on them. Unfortunately the reports pages were scattered to different worlds. The key to finding them lies in your hands Sora." Yuffie explained smiling.

Sora looked down at the Keyblade and then held it up, "so this is the key?" he asked mystified.

Yuffie giggled, "Exactly! You're catching on!"

Leon looked down at the blade in Sora's hands; "the heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what."

The man turned and walked toward the door on the other side of the room.

"Well, I didn't ask for this…"

_Though I'm not really complaining…_

"The Keyblade chooses its master, and it _chose _you." the girl said happily.

"So, tough luck." said the taller brunet in an apathetic tone.

Sora looked at Leon who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

"But… How did all this happen? All I remember was being in my room when… Wait! What happened to my home, the island, _Riku, Kairi!_"

The young man leaning against the wall didn't look up, "You know what? I really don't know…"

Sora looked down at his Keyblade,

_so these things… Heartless, are going to come after me… all because I have this thing. Should I be scared? _

Sora clenched the key in his hand.

_No if I'm scared I'll never be able to find them._

He looked up at Leon who was still leaning against the wall. "I'll fight them. These 'heartless', I'll fight them and protect this world if that's what you want."

The man looked up and turned to Sora, "whether you _choose _to fight or not is not an issue. You will fight; the heartless will come after you no matter what. You should get prepared."

Sora looked at the man puzzled, "Prepared?"

"Yeah, expect the worst because that might be what happens, and take a couple of potions in case of anything." said the taller brunet.

Leon tossed two potions at Sora; he caught them clumsily and stared at them in his hands.

He smiled;_ maybe he isn't such a bad guy. _

"Thank you, Leon."

The man seemed surprised, he probably didn't expect such a sweet thank you; he looked away from Sora as to hide the pink from his cheeks.

"If you're ready to go we should leave now to see Aerith." He said quickly.

Before the boy could move, he heard Yuffie yell,

"Leon! Look!"

Both of them turned to see a heartless manifest in the room.

"Yuffie, go!" He pointed to the direction the girl should go to; she quickly followed his orders and left the room instantly. Leon took out his sword and rested it on his shoulder,

"Sora, you're coming with me."

* * *

_Leon:_

Both Leon and Sora jumped off the balcony of the hotel room they were in. His senses were on edge,

"Don't bother with the small fry go after their leader. He should be somewhere in this world; it's a large heartless most likely."

He looked at the boy, whose expression was wrapped in a mix of fear and excitement, but Leon could tell that he was determined to do this.

He couldn't help feeling bad for the boy though, he must be scared out of his mind; after all, he was just a child.

"Don't worry; I'll be by your side the whole time. You won't have to face that thing alone, just stay close to me." he encouraged.

The boy smiled and nodded; the words seemed to have given him confidence.

Leon gave a small nod in return,

"Ok, let's go!" He dashed off; Sora not far behind.

Going through alleys, and waterways; every turn they made seemed to have heartless.

_They are everywhere, I haven't seen so many of them since our world was taken over! Is this because of the Keyblade? _

"Leon?" He snapped from his thoughts to realize that he had stopped running, and now the young Keyblade wielder was standing directly in front of him.

Leon blushed, embarrassed that he was distracted at such a critical moment.

"I'm sorry… I got lost in thought."

Sora looked at him questioningly, but then smiled, "you can think later, right now we have to defeat the big heartless!"

Leon blushed even more,

_how are you in such a good mood? I don't know whether you're an airhead or just a cocky brat._

"I'll be damned the day I let a kid tell me what I have to do."

Sora crossed his arms and pouted, but before a word could come out of his mouth; heartless appeared around them. They were surrounded by ten soldier heartless.

Leon and Sora stood back to back in their fighting positions

"ready?" Leon asked.

Sora nodded, "ready!"

As one soldier came in to attack, Sora struck at it with his Keyblade; making more of them come in.

Leon swiftly slashed at two heartless with his Gunblade; they instantly disappeared; after all he _was_ stronger than Sora.

It was easy for him to take them on, and even though the boy was having a harder time, he was still pushing against them; ten heartless would be easy to deal with.

Leon slashed at another one;

_six left..._

Unfortunately, at the moment he thought that, a larger heartless appeared; he was larger and slower than the other ones, but it was definitely stronger.

He decided to fight this one on his own; Sora could handle six smaller heartless.

He attacked the large creature head on; he soon learned that was a mistake. The gunblade bounced off the monsters belly armor.

_He's protected from the front! _

The heartless swiped at Leon with its huge hands, successfully landing a hit and flinging Leon into the wall.

"Leon!" he heard Sora yell; he was dazed but not incredibly hurt.

"I'm fine! Worry about yourself!"

He glanced at Sora and realized he only needed two more heartless.

He glared back at his opponent, "Ok big guy, so if I can't hit you in the front; then your weakness must be—"

He dashed forward blade in hand; the creature attempted to swipe at him again but this time Leon was ready.

He jumped on the creature's hands and then his head finally landing behind it. The heartless was dazed and confused, too slow to realize what had happened; Leon took that to his advantage and slashed at the beast, flinging him toward the wall.

When Leon turned to see how Sora was doing, he realized that the younger brunet only had one heartless left, but the creature started to run from him,

"Hey! Wait, come back you coward!" the boy chased after the creature.

"Wait, Sora n-" Leon's words were caught in his mouth; the heartless he had flung against the wall had recovered and was now squeezing Leon against his body.

_Tsk! Idiot, I told you to stay by me!_

* * *

_Sora:_

Sora was right on the creature's tail.

The heartless zigzagged through alleyways, but the boy didn't lose sight of it.

When he finally reached it, he swung down with the Keyblade making it disappear.

"Ha-ha! That's what you get, you dumb heartless! No one can outrun me! Did you see that Le-" Sora stopped and turned around; realizing that he had chased the heartless and gotten himself lost.

_Oh no… This isn't good; did that heartless separate us on purpose? It couldn't be right? They can't be that smart! _

Sora scratched the back of his head, "well, whether it was intended or not, we are separated now."

_I'm so stupid! The first thing he tells me not to do, I go off and do it._

He thought back to what Leon had said, "_Don't bother with the small fry go after their leader!_"

The boy gave out a nervous laugh, _whoops…_

He thought about finding Leon again, but decided against it; considering he didn't know his way around the town very well and figured that they couldn't waste time.

_Plus I have to prove to Leon that I'm brave, how would I look if I came crying after him! _

He felt his face warmed up at the thought; he had always been the one that was cared for by others. Riku always protected and watched out for him, and even though Sora didn't mind; he wanted to be the protector for once.

Maybe that was the reason he took such a liking to Kairi, he felt he needed to protect her.

He walked around the alleys until he noticed a clearing, he ran toward it; happy to be out of small dark corridors. When he got there he noticed the tall bell tower and the hotel entrances,

_the second district. I'm not too far from where I was before. If the large heartless isn't here, could it mean that it's in the first district? _

Sora blinked and noticed a familiar shadowy looking antennae poking from a corner. He ran towards it to find a shadow heartless; it jumped, surprised to see the Keyblade wielder.

He did not give it a chance to attack-striking at it quickly and making it vanish.

He looked up and noticed another alleyway; he walked through it but noticed that this one was significantly smaller. After he turned one corner he was already facing a door.

This entrance was a lot smaller than the second districts door, but it had a number three on it.

_Third district, so there is even more to this place?_

As he approached the door, he felt a foreboding aura. He gulped, it was intimidating but his courage was not swayed. He pushed open the door and stepped through it.

Silence; silence was the one word that perfectly described the third district.

There were many lights, and the third district looked much smaller than districts one and two. There were no heartless but the presence Sora felt was dark. He treaded carefully fearing that he might be wrong and that there were indeed heartless hiding there; waiting for him to fall into their trap.

He was soon in the middle of the small district; he noticed four doors in the small area. One had a fire symbol on it; though he didn't understand why. Another was shaped like a star, another led to the 1st district and the last one led to the inside of an abandoned house.

Sora was on edge despite the stillness that the district held; he waited for something to happen, but… nothing.

He gave an exasperated sigh, "I guess there is nothing here."

He was going to turn and leave, until a flash of light and some panicked yelling, stopped him in his tracks. He looked up to see what was happening, but before he knew it; he was on the floor crushed under the weight of a cartoony duck, and dog.

He groaned and glared at them angrily.

_Who are these things? They don't look like heartless. _

They both seemed to grin when they noticed Sora's Keyblade.

"The key!" they said in unison.

_Huh? They know about it?_

Before Sora could say a word, let alone ask them their names or who/what they are; the ground started to shake. Columns started to shoot out the ground surrounding them, and on top of each column was a soldier heartless.

Sora stood his ground and positioned himself to fight the enemies.

He half-expected the two cartoony figures to panic and cower in fear, but quite the opposite happened. The dog and duck stood beside him back to back. The duck had a staff, and the dog had a shield.

Sora grinned; _I guess I won't be fighting alone after all. _

The soldier heartless started jumping down from the columns, surrounding the three characters. They all attacked simultaneously; Sora slashed at the closest enemies, and he could hear the duck shouting words like "_Fire_" and "_Blizzard_", when the boy turned to look he noticed the character was shooting balls of fire and ice crystals at the heartless.

_Is that magic? I want to do that!_

The boy grinned excitedly and continued attacking.

Soon the heartless were eliminated.

"That wasn't too bad! It was easy!"

But Sora spoke too soon; giant purple armor descended from the sky and landed with a clang.

The brunet was puzzled, but he froze when he realized that the armor started to build itself; the feet, torso, arms and lastly the head. The creature was very large and intimidating; nothing like the other heartless.

The large armor started to walk toward Sora and the two other characters.

"A-hyuck, he's kinda scary!" said the goofy looking dog.

"Shut up! I think that's kind of obvious!" the duck yelled in a raspy tone that was barely understandable.

Sora suppressed a chuckle.

_These guys are kind of funny!_

He heard the clang of metal and looked up to see the armored heartless in front of him. He swallowed hard_,_

_I should've been paying attention, heh-heh… whoops._

The giant metal hand swiped at Sora and flung him against the wall. The other two characters looked at him, mouths wide.

Sora coughed and struggled to stand-using his key to aid him. He felt pain surge through every part of his body but he knew that he could not allow that to stop him.

"Is that all you've got?" Sora coughed; somehow managing a smirk.

The duck and dog smiled, happy that he was ok.

_Now it's my turn._

He ran at the creatures legs, not realizing that it was actually a good idea. He seemed to run on instinct in most cases, but this time it seemed to work. The legs were the weakest parts of the heartless, despite the fact that they caused tremors in the ground as it stomped around during Sora's attacks.

When the duck and the dog joined in on the attack the legs soon disappeared. Sora and the duck didn't waste a moment; he continued lashing at the hands while the duck shot out Fire spells.

The young brunet got too confident though; he seemed to have forgotten that the heartless could attack. The armor spun its hands around its torso, lashing at Sora, but the attack didn't hit its mark, the dog intercepted the attack with his shield.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed gratefully, noticing how close of a call that was.

The dog looked back and nodded, smiling "A-hyuck! You're welcome!"

When the hands had stopped attacking the dog flung his shield at the creature's hands, causing them to vanish.

"Now's are chance!" yelled the duck.

Sora seemed to be one step ahead of him, he already jumped up over the dog; he landed a direct hit in the center of the creatures body. The armors head fell off, leaving only the torso; which started to shake and shine after the receiving the hit from Sora's Keyblade.

The heartless started to disappear leaving a giant sparkling heart that started to float up into the sky. Sora looked up at it, following the heart with his eyes until it finally disappeared.

_I wonder, if that's someone's heart then… will that person's heart return to them now?_

"We finally found you!" quacked one of the characters.

"Gawrsh, I knew if we kept looking we would!"

Sora blinked and turned around to face the two characters that had helped him fight the armored heartless.

"Wait, you were searching for me? Why?" he asked, puzzled.

A voice from behind him answered "They were also looking for the Keyblade wielder."

Sora jumped at the voice; he turned around to find a very irritated Leon and contempt Yuffie.

He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously "S-sorry Leon, I didn't mean to leave you back there."

Leon sighed; his face turning into one of relief instead of irritation. He walked up to Sora and patted his head "It doesn't matter, you did well. I'm proud that you could face the heartless without me."

Sora blushed and looked up at him, _He was probably worried… sorry Leon._

"Hey! Why don't you come with us? We can visit other worlds in our ship, a-hyuck!" exclaimed the dog happily.

The young brunet looked down, "I wonder… Do you think I'll find Riku and Kairi?"

Leon noticed Sora's sunken look, he crossed his arms and sighed, closing his eyes.

"Of course you will!" the duck burst out.

Sora looked up "Really!" He clenched his hands;

_Will I really be able to... find them?_

* * *

_Leon:_

Leon saw as the boy seemed to get happier knowing that he would have some hope of finding his friends; which gave him more of a reason to be upset when he overheard Donald whisper to Goofy that they were just leading him on.

He walked toward the three,

"Sora you should go with them, they will help you find you friends." He said shooting a glance at Donald and Goofy- **_right?_**

The two characters seemed to understand because they nodded nervously.

"Alright… I'll go, I guess…"

Leon tilted his head, _why are you sad now? Sometimes I wonder if you're harder to understand than Yuffie._

Donald and Goofy seemed to notice Sora's expression because right away the duck stated, "But you can't come along looking like that! You can't be sad or frown or anything! You have to smile! Ok?"

"Yeah a-hyuck! You gotta look funny, like us!" Goofy laughed.

Donald shot him a glare, but then turned back to Sora "Our ship runs on happy faces! So if you're sad we'll be out of fuel!"

The boy didn't look up, which made Leon worry; _come on kid, snap out of it… _

"Happy?" Leon blinked when he heard Sora speak.

"I hope he'll be ok…" Yuffie whispered to him, sounding concerned.

Before Leon could answer back he saw the young brunet look up and pull his mouth into a very large, awkward smile.

"Is this smile good enough?" Sora said through clenched teeth.

The duck and the dog burst into laughter, Yuffie joining them; even Leon had to suppress himself, but couldn't help letting out a grunt of laughter. He turned away covering his smile and blushing

"I think he'll be fine…"

Yuffie laughed "what was that Leon!?"

The man turned around again, "Heh nothing, never mind." He said shaking his head.

"Ok I've made up my mind! I'll go with you guys!" exclaimed Sora when the laughter died down.

The duck put out his hand "Donald Duck!" The dog put his hand on top of Donald's "Goofy!" The boy grinned and placed his hand last, on top of the others, "My name is Sora!" Goofy chuckled, "all for one, and one for all!"

Leon smiled slightly,

"Aren't you glad Leon? Now at least he won't be lonely!" The raven haired girl said cheerily.

The young man chuckled, "Yeah I hope they take care of each other out there…"

The girl smiled teasingly, "Ohhhh, what's this? Is cold old Squall finally growing a heart?" she said poking his arm.

His eyebrow twitched and he clenched his hands

"What are you trying to say? And what have I told you about calling me by that name!"

Yuffie just laughed, "Oh look you're blushing! So you're just a big'ol softy after all!"

Leon blushed and glared at her, "Shut up!" he turned and walked away, scowling.

_Stupid girl, go away!_

* * *

_Sora: _

Sora and his newly met companions walked to the first district where they stood in front of a very large door; larger than all the others.

"This door leads outside of the world." Leon said smoothly.

Sora gulped, _wow! No wonder it's so huge! _

"Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you, we don't know how far the heartless have spread, so stock up on supplies." The young man advised.

"Yeah, there are many shops around here! So go into anyone of them!" Yuffie exclaimed happily, jumping up and down.

A woman by the name of Aerith, that Sora met a little while ago, stood by them smiling sweetly.

"Here this is from all of us."

She held out her hand, holding a little brown bag that jingled when Sora picked it up.

"It's one hundred munny, we thought it might help." she said.

Sora blushed and smiled, "Thank you, but you guys didn't have to do that."

He put the bag away.

"Nonsense! We did it for you! Oh, and this is from Leon."

The woman held out a little bottle, Sora looked at it and then at Leon. The man looked away and a tint of pink flashed on his cheeks.

The boy smiled_, he tries to be all cool, but he's just a nice guy isn't he? Just like Riku._

He looked back at Aerith, "what's inside the bottle?"

Aerith smiled, "It's an elixir; it'll give you stamina and recover your injuries."

Sora grinned, and happily took the bottle. "Thank you Leon!"

The man refused to look at the boy and his blush seemed to get brighter.

The young brunet dismissed it as Leon just being embarrassed about letting his kindness be noticed.

"Good luck guys!" Yuffie said happily.

"I hope you find your friends." added Aerith kindly.

Leon turned to look at the boy, "Be careful and watch out for each other. Keep your spirits up."

Sora and his group smiled happily, "No problem!"

After purchasing all the items they needed, Sora and the other two stood in front of the large door.

"Our gummi ship is on the other side; I wasn't kidding when I said it was fueled by happy faces! So don't be sad, we'll crash!" explained Donald.

The brunet smiled, "Don't worry!"

Goofy and Donald grinned,

"Before we go, we'll teach you some fighting techniques like how to dodge, and also how to use fire magic." explained the duck.

Sora turned to them, "Really!? I get to learn magic!"

The duck and the dog smiled, "yep!" they said simultaneously.

The boy turned to the large door again and smiled,

_Riku… Kairi… I'm coming for you!_

**End of Chapter Two**

* * *

Hey guys! So did you like this chapter? I promised Fan service, and I think I fulfilled that promise (even if it was just a dream).

How about those SoraxLeon parts, ok I'm not going to lie, I don't ship them (I don't ship Leon with anyone actually). But, as I was watching walkthroughs of KH I, I noticed Leon acting really awkward towards Sora at some points. Since I knew that some people did ship Sora and Leon together I decided to add a little service for them, I hope you guys enjoyed it though!

PS: I adore Yuffie, I love writing for her, she's so freaking happy!

**Next Chapter: Betrayal**

Where has Riku been during this time? Has he been desperately searching for his friends as well? But will that desperation lead him into not-so-trustworthy hands?

Meanwhile, Sora can't shake off the feeling that something isn't right when the mysterious girl in wonderland suddenly disappears after they rescued her.


	4. Chapter 3: Betrayal

**Disclaimer: **I do** NOT** own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy, or any of their characters.

[This chapter is one of my favorites, mostly because I love writing for Riku. Hope you guys enjoy it!]

Riku lands in a completely different world from Sora; there he meets a shady character that tells him she can grant him the strength he desires. Will he take her up on that offer? But the woman continues to fill his head with lies about Sora! He doesn't believe them at first, but...

* * *

**Chapter Three: Betrayal**

_Riku:_

_So you aren't going to come with me Sora? You're going to abandon me for her?_

Riku's eyes flicked open, a soft groan escaped his lips as he regained his consciousness.

_Where am I?_

He blinked several times to make sure his eyes were open; they were but, everything in the room was pitch dark; not even a glimmer of light.

_I feel blind, this is annoying._

He sat up groggily, "Hey is anyone around? Hello?" he asked.

Riku tensed when he heard the answer of many unfamiliar voices, they all chuckled, and one whispered "I think are guest is awake now, why don't you go check on him?"

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he noticed he was on a bed in a small plain square room. In one corner was a large bookcase and in the corner across from the bed was a desk with papers scattered all over it.

_Where am I? What were those voices?_

As if to answer his question the door in his room opened with a creek, revealing a tall, lanky, pale-green woman behind it.

"It appears that our prince is finally awake." The shadowy woman said maliciously.

Riku was on edge, he didn't know this woman; let alone what she wanted from him. All he remembered was Sora reaching for his hand, and then… nothing; darkness.

"Who are you? What do you want" He remained tense, he wanted to be prepared in case of an attack.

"Calm yourself child, I will not harm you. I'm only here to aid you in your quest." The woman stated in a softer voice.

He glared at the woman, "Forgive me for being rude, but you look like the last person that would ever try to help anyone."

The woman chuckled darkly, "A perceptive one aren't you? Well, you're absolutely right, I'm not a very charitable person, but… I do help those that peak my interest."

Riku scoffed, "Sorry to break it to you lady, but you're not my type."

The woman gave a forced smiled, it obviously took a lot of effort to avoid punishing the boy for his behavior. But the look in her eyes betrayed any hope of friendliness.

"Oh heavens no, I only wish to aid you in getting stronger. After all, was it not you who said he did not fear the darkness?" she said, trying to divert the topic elsewhere.

"Yeah it was me. I am not afraid; not of the darkness, and not of you." The silver-haired boy stated confidently.

A crow flew into the room, surprising Riku, and making him jump; it circled the room a few times before finding it's way to the strange woman's shoulder.

"That's good to know, after all… What good is a prince of darkness if he fears the dark?" she smirks and turns toward the door.

The boy clenches his fists and glares at her;

_tsk, I'll show you. Who do you think you are? _

Riku followed the strange woman out the door.

They didn't speak a word as they walked down the corridor. Despite the fact that he didn't want to look the least bit interested in his surroundings he couldn't resist glancing to the sides every now and then.

_This must be some type of castle. There are no structures this large back home, so where am I? And who were those people that I heard talking outside the room? _

An important question flashed through his mind, "Hey where is Sora?"

The woman suddenly stopped walking, which forced Riku to stop abruptly as to not crash into her.

"You should forget about that boy. He's betrayed you; he doesn't care about you and never did." she said coldly.

He glared at her, "You know nothing about him, yet you're going to try and tell me that he's betrayed me? Sure, I'll believe you; _Not_."

The woman chuckled softly and turned around. She rested her hand on his head, which made him sick to his stomach, "In due time I will prove to you that what I say is true. As for now, I will teach you true strength, that's what you want right? So that you can protect those most important to you?"

He slapped her hand off, "Who _are _you, and what makes you think you know anything about me!"

The woman snickered; which only aggravated Riku even more. He cursed under his breath.

_If you don't take me seriously old hag, I'll make sure you regret it._

The woman turned away again and continued walking down the corridors. The castle was indeed large, easy to get lost in; for a while Riku wondered if they were just walking around in circles. Finally the woman stopped in front of a large door with interesting gems carved into it. Inside the room was a large round stone table with some type of structure in the middle. The walls were shelves upon shelves of books, and there were no windows in site, much like the rest of the castle.

"So, why are we here?" he asked

_After all, we walked all this way. Don't tell me it was to read me a bed time story._

"The others are most likely in their rooms; we are here so I can give you the explanation you so rightfully deserve."

The boy looked at her, puzzled. The woman walked to the stone table and pulled out a chair for herself.

"Sit child, we have much to discuss." she ordered.

He wanted to be nowhere near the strange green skinned woman, so he pulled out a chair on the opposite side of the table.

"So, out of common courtesy I think it's only fair that you tell me your name, and what you are because you obviously aren't human. _No offence._"

The woman made no reaction to the boy's snarky demand, "My name is Maleficent, and I'm a dark fairy. There is no need for you to tell me your name child, as I already know it."

The boy glared at the woman. He lay back on his chair and kicked up his feet, "great, that makes introductions a lot shorter. What do you want from me?"

The witch smiled darkly, "I only wish to strike a deal with you. I will aid you in getting stronger and finding your friends as long as you do one thing for me in return."

He lifted an eyebrow, "I'm listening."

"I will send you to different worlds and I want you to bring me back a princess of heart. There are seven of them, if you do as you're told I will make sure that you reunite with your friends and that your greatest wish is granted."

_Seven princesses of heart? What is that supposed to mean?_

"How am I supposed to know what they look like?" he asked.

The witch motioned her hand in the air, summoning one of the books from the shelves to float towards Riku. When the book landed in front of him, it opened up to a page with a picture of a beautiful girl with jet black hair and flawless white skin; next to her was the number one.

"We have succeeded in gathering three of the princesses already." the witch explained.

An X formed on the number next to the girl.

"The first one: Snow White." spoke Maleficent.

The page turned and landed on yet another beautiful girl, with long blond hair, and rosy cheeks. Her eyes were closed and her hands were over her heart. An X formed over her number as well,

"Aurora, number two."

The page turned once again, this princess was also blond, but her hair was much shorter, her number was three. This was also crossed out with an X.

"Lastly, Cinderella, number three."

Riku sat up and continued to flip through the pages; he found numbers but did not find any pictures of the princesses.

"This doesn't help at all, how am I going to find the other ones if I don't know what they look like?" he stated.

The pages turned again this time landing on a page with only writing on it.

_**"Princess of heart: A maiden whose heart is made only of light, devoid of darkness. It is simple to determine who is a princess of light, because their presence is pure and uncorrupted."**_

The book then closed,

"Your objective is simple; all you have to do is travel to different worlds searching for the remaining princesses of light." explained the woman.

Riku looked up from the book, "Why do you want these girls?"

Maleficent rose from her chair and walk towards the boy.

"It is said, that if you gather all the princesses of heart, their combined light will open Kingdom Hearts. If you unleash Kingdom hearts your greatest desires can be achieved." she explained.

"So why do you need me? You seem capable enough to do this yourself." he responded.

The woman chuckled darkly, "well you see Riku, it is very difficult for me to get near a princess of heart; I give off an aura of darkness that they can sense."

She lifted Riku's chin with her hand, and caressed his cheeks softly, giving him Goosebumps and sending shivers up and down his spine.

_Get your filthy hands off me. _

"You on the other hand, are easier to trust and look much like a young boy who would never do any harm."

He glared defiantly at her.

She chuckled and let go of him, "well, that is how you seem to appear anyway."

She turned away and headed towards the door, but stopped right before leaving. Without turning back she said, "You can head back to your room or explore the castle as you wish." with those words, she exited the room.

Riku continued to explore the castle, he wanted to learn more about this new world, and though he would never admit it, he was terribly lost, but he wouldn't dare ask for directions; especially not from that creepy witch.

_This place is huge, but does it have an outside? I'm tired of being cooped up in here. _

He came across another large door, but this time made of wood and it had beautiful patterns carved onto it. He opened the doors slowly, expecting the room to be shrouded by darkness, but on the contrary this room had the only light he had seen since getting there. There were large bookshelves everywhere and huge windows that let glorious light shine in from outside.

The boy smiled; as he walked in he noticed a staircase on the far end of the room, the ceilings were high, and the staircase led to a spacious platform with even more bookshelves on it and a table as well.

_So somehow I ended up in the library._

Riku walked up to one of the windows and gazed out in wonder. As far as he could see, this world was immense; much larger than his other world. Everything outside looked like a fairytale, in the distance he could see some type of ravine where giant waterfalls crashed down into it. He noticed platforms whizzing around outside the castle on some electric wires.

Everything was so, _different._

_I could never imagine this even if I tried. This—this is amazing! I've made it outside of that pathetic little island! I don't feel caged anymore, I can go wherever I want and experience the adventures I've so craved. But—_

His smile fell.

_Sora isn't here… The one person I wanted to share this experience with isn't here. I wonder... is he with—her? _

An image of the brunet's care-free, smiling face appeared on the window; instinctively he reached out his hand to stroke his cheek, but he pulled it back quickly.

_Why... why did I do that?_

He felt his face grow warmer, and it only served to confuse him even more.

_Sora, we are best friends… I'll find you, so we can enjoy our adventures together. Then we'll both go searching for Kairi, I know you wouldn't want to leave her behind._

Riku smiled warmly,

_always the kind hearted one huh Sora? How could I believe what Maleficent said… He would never betray me._

* * *

_Sora: _

Sora and his little group where in the process of getting into their gummi ship after they finished exploring wonderland. They were not able to find the king, or Riku and Kairi, but Sora was lost in thought for another reason. The girl in that world suddenly disappeared.

_I wonder what happened to her. We worked so hard to prove that she was innocent and she just vanished. What was her name? Alice? I hope she's ok…_

Hey Sora, remember what we said? No sad face, ok?" Donald rasped.

The boy looked up from his seat to look at Donald, "But aren't you worried? People don't just disappear like that…"

Donald and Goofy exchanged a worried look, "Don't worry Sora! I'm sure she's fine A-hyuck!" Goofy said reassuringly.

"Yah! She's probably sitting down somewhere enjoying tea!" added Donald.

The brunet looked at them hopefully, "I hope so…"

Throughout the trip back to Traverse town, he thought about the other worlds he saw. His idea was that if he could keep his mind off of Alice maybe he wouldn't feel bad and cause the gummi ship to run out of fuel.

So he thought about "thick jungle", he giggled to himself when he remembered how he and Donald had gotten into an argument leading the gummi ship to crash into the world.

_Ha-ha, the argument between me and Donald reminds me of back home, when I used to have arguments with Riku all the time._

His smile fell, _I wonder if he's ok… _

A sudden beeping filled the gummi ship, and the ship started to descend rapidly.

"Sora! Stop being sad you'll kill us all!" The two chipmunks steering the gummi ship (Chip and Dale) yelled as they held onto the steering wheel for dear life.

Sora grabbed onto his seat and chuckled nervously, "Heh-Heh, sorry!"

he closed his eyes, and tried desperately to think positive thoughts,

_don't be stupid! You're talking about Riku! Nothing could ever happen to him. Don't you remember who always beat you? He can take care of himself!_

The brown haired boy smiled at his own thought, "That's right… No one can beat him!" he whispered.

The ship stabilized and continued swiftly until they reached Traverse Town.

As they stepped out of the gummi ship, Sora stretched his arms above his head "Finally, Solid stable ground!"

Donald ran up to him shoving his finger in his face and quacking up a storm "And just _whose_fault do you think it was that the ship wasn't stable!?"

Sora arched away from the finger pointed menacingly at him and chuckled nervously. "Hey Donald, remember that weird gummi block we found? I wonder what it's for, we should ask Leon in case he knows anything, don't you think?"

The duck stepped back, "oh yeah… Let's go look for him, I heard he trains in the waterways"

The brunet let out a sigh of relief.

After going through the twists and turns of Traverse towns alleys they finally stumbled upon the canal. They followed it until it stopped at a gate with metal bars halting any further advances.

On the bars was a note **_"If you're looking for me I'm behind this gate. You'll have to work together to break through it though. –Leon" _**

Sora scratched the back of his head, puzzled.

"Wait, how did he get behind the gate without breaking it?" the boy asked.

Donald pinched the center of his forehead "I don't know, and I don't care… what matters is; how are we going to break through this!?" he quacked furiously.

Goofy put his hand on his chin and looked up as if in deep thought.

He snapped his fingers, "I got it! He did say work together, why don't we use our heads!?"

The duck frowned, "that has to be the worst idea. Ever."

Sora patted Goofy's back, "hey! I don't think it's a bad idea! After all Leon did say we have to work together."

Donald gave an exasperated sigh, "Fine, Goofy toss me your shield."

The dog did as he was told.

"Now I'm going to go first, Sora you come after me, and Goofy you're after Sora."

The duck glared at the gate and took a deep breath.

He started yelling as he charged the gate, and Sora and Goofy took that as their cue to do the same. Donald smashed against the gate; the brunet and Goofy coming soon after.

Their combined weight and momentum toppled the fence and they crashed into the water.

"A-hyuck, that was fun!" laughed the dog.

Sora soon joined in, "yeah it was! I think the bars were rusty that's why it broke so easily."

Donald continued to lie on the ground and tap his finger on the flooded floor, "yeah, it's easy for you guys to say it was fun, I think I sprained my neck."

He groaned, and started to lift himself off the ground.

"Well, let's get going." he quacked.

They walked a few steps through the waterways until Donald let out a wail and fell through the ground.

Surprised, Sora and Goofy ran toward the spot Donald fell in and they too fell.

The water had suddenly gotten deeper and the three friends could no longer reach the ground. But Sora was a great swimmer so when he realized this he grabbed his two companions and he swam upward with all his strength.

The three let out a loud gasp for air when their heads were above water.

"Well that was a close one!" the boy stated happily.

Goofy laughed and agreed, but Donald only glared at him; obviously embarrassed that he needed saving.

They swam through the water ways which were for the most part, very dark. They almost decided to turn back; when they saw a light flickering on the other side of the tunnel.

They swam toward it and as they got closer to it, the water seemed to get shallower. Soon it was so shallow that they could walk again, they walked toward the light and saw Leon and Aerith standing on dry ground. The tall brunette was swinging his sword around; each slash looking incredibly deadly. Aerith was only standing idly by, holding a tray of some sort. The light that flickered was two torches that were lit in front of a doorway at the end of the tunnel.

"Hey Leon, we saw your note and we came to ask you something!" the small brunet yelled.

At the boys voice the older brunet stopped swinging and turned to look at him.

* * *

_Leon:_

The young boy ran toward him excitedly, and stopped in front of him gasping for breath.

Leon looked down at him, "so did you find the keyhole? Remember, the thing I told you to find in order to seal the heart of the world?"

Sora smiled happily, "sure did! And it locked just the way you said it would!"

Leon's cheeks flushed at the sight of the boy's innocent smile. "That's good" he replied; not looking at him in the face.

"Oh yeah, why do we need to lock the heart of the world again?" Sora asked curiously.

Leon recovered himself, "Every world has a keyhole to its heart, this world too... If you do not seal the heart of the world than it will rot."

The boy still looked puzzled, "what happens then?"

Aerith was the one to answer this time, "The world will disappear…"

Shock ran across the three friends faces, "what!?" they yelled in unison.

Aerith smiled sadly, "Yeah that's why your key is so important. Only you can prevent the worlds from disappearing."

Leon understood why Aerith had such a somber look; they had witnessed their worlds rot and disappear at a young age. To think that it would happen again was… freighting.

"But, what if I can't do it? What if I can't... stop worlds like yours from rotting..." Sora's words interrupted his thoughts.

He gripped his sword, "How can you say that!? You're the Keyblade wielder! You're the only one who _can._ Get a grip on yourself and show some confidence!"

His sudden outburst shocked everyone; he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell like that, but show more confidence you're our only hope and you sure aren't acting like it. We've witnessed our world rot to the core and disappear; we don't want to see that again."

Sora's expression saddened, "I'm sorry… I don't want to make anyone worry but, I just don't know if I'll be able to do it. I've been thrown into this whole mess and lost my friends and my world as well…"

Leon looked away from the boy; _I didn't mean to make him feel worse…_

"But, you're right Leon... since I've been thrown into all this, I shouldn't be so pessimistic. I'm not acting like a Keyblade wielder at all. I _will_ protect the worlds, and I _will_ find my friends!"

The tall brunette looked back at Sora, who was now looking straight at him; determination on his face.

Leon smiled and ruffled his hair, "that's the spirit, and if you look for keyholes in other worlds, you'll definitely come across your friends in no time flat."

Aerith smiled at Leon and nodded in agreement.

The boy giggled, "Oh yeah, Leon we found this weird gummi piece in one of the other worlds. What do you suppose it's for?"

The young man looked at the piece thoroughly "… I don't know anything about this… Go ask Cid, he knows more than me about these things…"

_I hate not knowing things… _

"Oh ok! We'll go then." said the brunet.

Sora and the others waved goodbye and started to walk in the other direction, but Aerith yelled out,

"hey wait, how about you guys have some tea!" She motioned to the tray she was holding a moment ago.

Leon tensed up, "uh… No you guys need to go see Cid, we shouldn't take any more of your time…"

Sora tilted his head "hmm, but drinking tea won't take much time."

Leon glared at him, "yes, it will. Now, go away."

The three friends stopped in their tracks and turned back walking swiftly; Sora yelled back "Sorry Aerith! Next time ok!"

Leon let out and exhausted sigh, which was clearly audible to Aerith.

"Why didn't you let them drink my tea!? _You_ never want any!" she complained.

_Because you are the only person in their right mind who would put salt in tea, and no one enjoys drinking salty tea._

He couldn't bring himself to say those words though; he cared too much for Aerith to let her feelings get hurt. If Sora and the others would have drunk it, they probably would have said exactly what they thought, and she would get sad.

"b—because Yuffie said she really wanted some later and those three will chug it all down in nothing flat."

_Sorry Yuffie; we all must make sacrifices._

The young woman blinked, "but I could always make more?"

Leon scratched his neck, trying to think of a response, "well she hates waiting for it, so it's better if it's already prepared…"

He turned away as to avoid any more questions.

"Hmm, ok then, would you like some!?" she asked enthusiastically.

Leon's shoulders tensed, _damn it, how do I get out of this…_

"S—sure… After I'm done training…"

Aerith smiled happily "Ok!"

* * *

_Sora:_

He and his two companions had managed to make it to Cid's shop in one piece. When Sora pushed the squeaky doors open the middle aged man turn to look at them, a smirk quickly appearing on his face.

"Hey guys, what can I do for you?"

The trio stepped up to the counter and placed the gummi block on it.

"Can you help us figure out what this is for?" Sora asked.

"Well if it ain't a gummi block! Don't tell me you guys don't know nothing about navigation gummies?!"

The trio laughed nervously.

"You know interspace travel ain't no joke right!?" The man added angrily.

Sora glared at the man, "No I don't think it's a joke, but so what if we don't know much about it? Who's supposed to teach us? Isn't that supposed to be you?" he fumed.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. Alright I'll install this gummi block but you have to do something for me first."

The boy raised an eyebrow, "and what's that?"

The blond man walked towards a big box. He rummaged through it until he pulled out and old-looking red book.

"A man brought this by earlier and asked me to restore it, it was too beat up to make it look good as new but, I think I did a decent job."

He placed the book on the counter in front of Sora.

"So? What does it have to do with us?" the boy asked.

"Simple I want you to go deliver it; he lives in the third district. His _house _is behind the red door with the flame symbol." Cid explained.

Sora picked up the book and smiled confidently, "Sounds easy enough! We'll be back in no time flat!"

Or so he said, but when the trio reached the large red door they could find no way to open it. They pulled, pushed, and knocked for a long time but it wouldn't budge and no response came from within.

"How are we supposed to get through!?" Donald fumed.

The brunet sat down and looked up at the door; investigating it. "It has a fire symbol on it so-"

"Fire magic should open the door, A-hyuck!" Goofy proclaimed eagerly; finishing Sora's sentence.

Donald face-palmed "Why didn't I think of that?" he rasped.

The duck took a step back and held out his staff "Fire!" he yelled.

"Awww! I wanted to do it!" Sora complained childishly.

A loud click was heard behind the door. The trio went up to it, and with an effortless push the gate opened.

What they saw inside was a cavern filled with water, in the middle was what looked like a run-down house.

"How are we supposed to reach it?" quacked Donald.

Sora noticed that there where large, flat rocks that worked as stepping stones to reach the house.

"I think we can use thes-" SPLASH* the boy had fallen into the water before he could say anymore, which was much to Donald's content, because he laughed and pointed at him the whole time until a much kinder Goofy gave him a hand.

He noticed now, the rocks moved; they would have to be careful or they would fall into the water before making it to the house.

The three basically played hop-scotch across the rocks until they made it to the other bank.

"Yes we did it!" exclaimed Sora.

The house that appeared before them had its entrance blocked by planks of wood.

"Is Cid pulling our leg? How are we supposed to get in? How can anyone live here?" the boy asked, slightly upset.

_Well we might as well see if there is some way to get in, but man this place is a dump! _

The group split up and search for a way to get inside. As Sora encircled the building he stumbled upon a huge whole in the wall.

_Well here's the entrance… I guess…_

The inside of the house was dark and cold, but in the center of it he saw something-no-_someone _that was very familiar.

Kairi stood there looking around, "There is something about this musty place…"

she walked toward Sora who was still paralyzed to find that his friend had appeared as if out of thin air.

"Kind of reminds me of the secret place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls… right Sora?"

The boy blinked twice "K-Kairi?" he asked, in disbelief.

"Sora!" he heard Goofy yell, he turned to see him and Donald behind him; a worried expression flashing across their faces.

He turned back and Kairi had disappeared.

_Was that really all just my imagination? _He shook his head, _what's wrong with me… _

"Well, well… You arrived sooner than expected."

Sora whipped around to see an old man with a long snow white beard, in a blue wardrobe and pointed hat.

_Was this the man we needed to deliver to?_

"You knew we were coming?" he asked suspiciously.

"Of course I did." The old man answered as if it were common knowledge.

"Are you a heartless?" the boy asked.

"Doesn't look like one" Donald added.

"Oh heavens no! My name is Merlin, and as you can see I am a sorcerer. I spend a good amount of my time traveling; it's good to be home. Your king has requested my help" explained the old man.

"King mickey?" asked Goofy.

"Yes, indeed. You're Donald and Goofy correct?" he asked pointing to the dog and duck.

"Yes!" they said in unison.

Merlin looked at Sora, "And who might you be young man?"

He smiled, "My name is Sora nice to meet you."

The man looked the brunet up and down, "I see you found the key"

"What did the king ask you to do?" Donald said impatiently; ignoring Merlin's remark.

"Just a moment…" He walked toward the center of the room and dropped the suitcase he was carrying.

"Presto!" At his call, the contents of the bag floated out and decorated the room with potions, books, and lights that illuminated the once dark house.

Sora and his friends stared in awe at the room that, just moments ago had been a dark musty place, but was now bright and lively.

"The king asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start whenever you like… oh, and one more thing." He looked over to a corner of the room and everyone else's gaze followed.

There was a small pumpkin that looked like a carriage in the corner, but as they looked at it, the pumpkin started to glow and sparkle. An elderly woman appeared where the pumpkin carriage used to be.

_Nothing is really normal here huh?_

"Hello, I'm the Fairy Godmother. Your king asked me to help as well. I will also assist on your journey." The woman said kindly.

"Well for now I don't know how much we can do, but you can come by anytime if you need something." said Merlin the wizard.

Sora remembered the mission that Cid sent them on, he handed the book to the elderly sorcerer.

"Oh this book! To tell you the truth it's not even mine. It just mysteriously found its way into my bag one day, so I asked Cid to fix it up. It still has missing pages though. You should look at it when you can."

The man placed the book on a counter, "You should go report to Cid now. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that I received the book."

The boy nodded, the trio left the house and headed out of the cavern.

When they exited the cavern and made the first few steps into the third district, they were immediately faced with a trio of heartless. Sora and his two friends stood ready to engage in battle, but a slash of a sword swiftly destroyed the heartless.

The brunet stood wide-eyed completely unable to believe he was seeing the person standing before him.

_Are my eyes playing tricks on me again? Is it really you!? Riku!_

* * *

_Riku:_

Satisfaction swept over Riku to see that his friend looked so surprised to see him.

"There you are; what's going on?" he said casually.

The other boy stumbled toward him; dumbfounded. "R—Riku!"

The silver-haired boy felt Soras warm hands on his cheeks, and he felt his face get red.

But then the other boy started to pull on his cheeks and the once comfortable feeling turned to pain "Stahp Sowa dat hurtz!" he managed to spit out.

He pushed the boy's hands away "cut it out!" he laughed.

"I'm not dreaming this time right? It really is you, isn't it Riku?"

The silver haired boy chuckled, "I hope it's not a dream, it took forever to find you." He said smoothly, while pushing his hair out of his face.

The younger boy's expression lit up into a smile, "Riku!" he said happily.

Sora looked genuinely happy to see him, and for some strange reason that made Riku feel better. He never bought into the story that the witch was trying to sell to him, about "Sora betraying him".

Despite that, he was worried; he was scared that he might just forget about him, but seeing his warm smile now; he knew that wasn't the case.

_How could Sora ever betray me?_

"Hey wait a second, where's Kairi?" Sora asked, breaking through Riku's thoughts.

He frowned "Isn't she with you?"

The other boy looked down and shook his head no.

Riku clenched his fists,

_come on Sora, does it really matter right now? Isn't it enough that I'm here right now?_

"Don't worry I'm sure she made it off the island too." he reassured, half-heartedly.

He walked toward the center of district three and studied his surroundings, "Look around, we're finally free! Ha-ha, who knows she may even be looking for us now! We aren't caged in anymore, I'm sure we'll all be together again soon."

A dark shadow appeared behind the taller boy, it started to stalk towards him.

"Just leave everything to me, I know this—"

Riku's sentence was cut off by the sound of a blade slashing through the air, he turned around to see the brunet holding a large key in his hand; a small heart glittered upward to the sky where he had struck.

_Is that…_

He stared at Sora wide eyed.

"Leave it to who?" The boy said triumphantly.

Riku snapped back to reality, "S—Sora, what did you—"

"I've been looking for you, and Kairi too, with their help." The younger boy pointed to the two characters behind him.

He hadn't really paid much mind to them. He was too elated to find his friend that nothing else mattered but now, this _did _matter.

"Who are they?" he asked cautiously.

The shorter of the two strangers spoke "Ahem, I'm—"

"We've visited so many places and worlds looking for you." Sora said cutting Donald off.

"_Really_? I never would have guessed." said the older boy, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

_Were you __**really **__looking for me, or were you just playing around with your new friends?_

The larger character places his hands on Sora's shoulders, "Oh and guess what! Sora is the Keyblade master! Hyuck!"

The smaller one crossed his wings, "Who would have thought it."

The boy became angry "what's that supposed to mean!?"

As they argued Riku took a closer look at the Keyblade, _there is no doubt about it, that's it._

To test his theory his summoned the weapon to his hand, in which it appeared without the slightest bit of trouble.

"So this is called a Keyblade?" Riku asked holding it up.

Sora turned around, "hey, give it back!" He ran towards his friend but tripped and fell flat on his face.

"Here catch." Riku said smoothly, and tossed the Keyblade at the brunet.

The boy caught it clumsily. "So you are coming with us right? We've got this _awesome_ rocket! Wait 'til you see it" He asked smiling.

The duck had some sort of objection but at this point Riku no longer cared. A million thoughts were whizzing through his head.

_Sora is the Keyblade master? No he isn't, he can't be. I'm supposed to be… _

Riku clenched his fist and glared at the bickering group of friends.

_So all this time... I've been worried about finding you, while you've been having adventures with some new friends. I bet you think you're some big shot now that you have the Keyblade huh? _

The boy took one final look at his friend and turned away; the group was too busy bickering to notice.

After the group had entered an abandoned building, the silver haired boy met up with Maleficent in front of it. The boy refused to take his eyes off the window, he peered inside at his best friend that was chatting so easily with the people inside. Even though Riku had disappeared, it was as if it didn't affect Sora at all.

"You see, it's just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your _dear _friend, he quite simply, _replaced _you. Evidently, he values his new friends far more than he does you. You're better off without that wretched boy."

Her words stung him, but he knew they were true. He didn't believe her when she told him at first, or more like, he didn't _want _to believe her. He felt a sharp pain in his heart.

This wasn't the first time he has felt like this, no, when Kairi first came to the island Sora started to edge away from him. It was only expected, Sora was a kind person that could make friends with anyone, but he didn't like it.

He and Sora were so close that the thought of sharing him put him on edge. He came to despise Kairi, to the point where he acted completely rude and indifferent to her.

But, no matter how hard he tried, or what he said, it was evident that the two were going to be friends. He couldn't explain why he didn't like her; he himself didn't understand.

Kairi was a wonderful girl, she was nice, caring, and funny, but the jealousy he felt towards her was uncanny.

He didn't want the brunet to resent him though; Sora would never understand why he didn't like Kairi. So he allowed her to stay, he tolerated her; he allowed her to play their games and join in their journeys, taking any moment that he had originally spent with only him, and sharing it.

But now; now even _she _didn't matter. She who Riku allowed to get close to Sora, she who he tolerated for so long for his sake; even she was replaced.

Both him and Kairi were easily and cheaply replaced by two random strangers.

_Does friendship mean nothing to you Sora? Do you think we are just toys that you can throw away when you're tired of them? You don't value anyone, and you never have. I was a fool to think of you as my friend. I'll show you; I'll find Kairi first and I'll prove to you that I'm more efficient. You're the Keyblade master? Hah, don't make me laugh I'm the original Keyblade master; I'll protect her, and show you how much it hurts to feel useless and forgotten. _

The witch seemed to notice the raging turmoil going on within the boys' heart; she smiled wickedly and put an arm around the silver haired boy.

"Now, think no more of him. I'll help you find what you are searching for." She said in a soothing voice.

The arm on his shoulder only made him tenser; he glared through the window. The brunet was smiling and laughing so gleefully.

He clenched his fist, _I'll make you regret replacing me Sora. I'll make you feel true loneliness._

**End of Chapter Three**

* * *

Despite Riku's sudden disappearance in traverse town, Sora isn't worried one bit! He knows that his best friend can fend for himself, and our hero turns his attention back to finding Kairi. But now, at least some of his mind is put at ease, knowing that he is safe. So Sora continues to travel to new worlds, this time landing in one that revolves around competition (his specialty). But when faced against a difficult opponent with a troubled past, can he stand up to the challenge?

**Next Chapter- ****Chapter Four: A Soldier's Turmoil**

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! it's certainly one of my favorites! Well the next chapter is too! I wonder if some of you got my reference to the Kingdom Hearts manga when I mentioned the salty tea? I'm sure some of you did! I researched a lot to make this fanfiction, and I'm sure you'll catch lots of things here that were used in doujins or the manga itself. It just helps me picture their emotions a little bit better. Well I hope you guys liked it!

Rate/Review/Pm me if you have any questions or comments!


	5. Chapter 4: A Soldier's Turmoil

**Disclaimer: I do ****_NOT _****own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts Franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy or any of it's characters.**

After Riku's strange disappearance, surprisingly Sora isn't worried. Instead, he focuses his attention on discovering new worlds and finding Kairi. In this Chapter, Sora and his friends stumble upon a Coliseum themed world, and as expected our small brunet is itching to battle! But will one opponent with a tormented past, prove too strong to handle?

* * *

**Chapter Four: A Soldier's Turmoil**

_Sora:_

The three friends were on their gummi ship again, Sora was lost in thought like always. Back at traverse town when he found Riku, the boy suddenly disappeared.

_Could he have been another illusion? No, Goofy and Donald saw him too._

He and Donald had started to bicker again and when he looked back, Riku was gone. At the moment he did feel slightly worried, but he realized something…

_Riku's been by himself all this time, and he's perfectly fine. I'm sure no matter what Riku is up against, he can take care of himself. He is Riku after all. _

What did worry him was the witch, _Maleficent_ that Leon and Cid warned him about.

_I hope she doesn't cause Riku or Kairi any trouble… _

Cid and Leon told Sora the story of how, 9 years ago the witch had engulfed their old world in darkness. The man had taken Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith with him when he escaped. That story only added to Sora's fire of wanting to accomplish his goal of sealing all the key holes. He sealed another one in traverse town before they had left on the gummi ship.

Again he had to fight the armored boss, but the battle was more difficult and tedious. When the battle ended a giant Keyhole appeared on the fountain wall in the 2nd district.

Sora smiled at his triumph, _Hah, I wonder if Riku was impressed that I could wield the Keyblade. I bet he was, I can't wait to find Kairi and then all of us can go on adventures together. Just like before…_

Sora snapped out of his thoughts when he realized they were approaching another world. As they landed they noticed the large doors of what looked like a coliseum.

"Wow this place is huge!" he said, sounding excited.

_I wonder if those people fight in it, the ones that I learned about in history; the um-gladiators? Yeah that's what they are called! _

The three walked through the doors to reveal a large court yard with immense gold warrior statues that were permanently frozen while clashing swords. In between the statues was another large doorway (though its size was relatively smaller than the world's main entrance).

Stepping through those doors they found themselves in what looked to be a lobby; where there was a small goat-looking creature (person?) cleaning a sign that read "rules".

Sora tried to gets the creature's attention but before he could ask him anything, the goat interrupted "Hey great timing. Do me a favor will yah? Move that pedestal over there, I need to spruce up for the games!"

The brunet looked around and noticed a large concrete pedestal sitting in front of the trophy case. He walked up to it; _I can move this easily!_

He dug his feet into the floor and mustered up all his strength to move it, but it wouldn't budge. He gasped and exerted all his force onto it until he was red in the face.

Alas the pedestal would not move.

"I think I might have better luck pushing an elephant!" He said to himself; ignoring Donald and Goofys hushed laughter.

"Hey goat, it's too heavy!" he shouted.

The character jumped "What!? Too heavy, are you going soft on me now Her—" The creature had finally turned around to notice the group in front of him.

"Woops, wrong person."

The goat jumped down from the bench he was on and swaggered towards Sora.

"This here is the world famous Coliseum, heroes only! What's a punk like you doing here? I still have a lot of cleaning up to do and I can't have you guys junking up the place!"

Sora glared at the goat-man, _we aren't punks you dirty goat! _

The character met his gaze and put his hands on his hips, but after a few seconds he gave a sigh.

"Look it's like this; Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters in the coliseum! Can't have you kids messing around, you might get hurt!"

Donald crossed his wings "You've got heroes right in front of you!"

"Yup! He's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!" Goofy added.

The goat-man faked an impressed face "Hero, really!? That runt?" He burst out laughing, which only fueled Sora's rage.

"What's so funny!? I've fought a bunch of monsters!" he said pointed to himself.

The goat's laughing died down a bit "The ones in your dreams don't count kid! Hah, if you can't even move this—" The goat started to push against the pedestal, "than you can't—" His voice was coming out strained, "Be a hero!" He flopped on the floor heaving like a dying fish.

He looked up at Sora who had his arms crossed, _if I couldn't move it, what makes you think you can? _

The goat-man coughed a few times "ok, maybe it takes a bit more than brawn. So show me what you can do."

The boy smiled triumphantly.

After a brutal training and obstacle course that tested the groups speed, wit, and endurance; they were completely exhausted. They all lay on the floor completely spent.

"Well congrats kid, you're not too shabby; you've definitely got heart!"

Sora got up and put his hands behind his head, smiling in triumph. "Looks like I'm heading to the games!"

"I'm afraid not."

"Why not!?" he snapped.

The goat man held up two fingers, "two words, YOU GUYS AINT HEROES."

_And __**you**__ can't count!_

"Oh come on!" Sora complained.

"No way in the underworld am I going to let you enter! The only way you are allowed in is if you have an entry pass, and I sure ain't giving you one."

The trio gave up, defeated they walked out of the lobby. But as they started to leave the world a suspicious voice called out to them.

"Hmmm, rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?"

the trio turned around to see a large blue "man" with fire for hair leaning against a column.

"Who are you!?" Donald pointed.

The man raised his arms up defensively "Whoa, hold on there fuzz boy! Wait, let me guess…"

He walked up to the group, "You want to enter the games right?"

"Um yeah—" Sora blinked and the man wasn't in front of him anymore, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder and jumped.

The man spoke softly, "well then hey, get a load of this." In a flash of blue fire, an entry pass formed in his hand.

Sora's eyes went wide, "A pass!?" He looked up to the man hopefully,

"It's all yours kid. Good luck, I'm pulling for you, little shortie." With that said the man walked away.

The group stared at the ticket and smiled at each other.

Back inside the lobby the goat-man had started throwing a fit on account of the groups "finding".

"How did you guys manage to get this?!" the goat steamed.

Sora ignored his question, "So can we enter the games now?"

The small, angry man glared up at the content trio.

He sighed, "Fine… It doesn't seem to be counterfeit after all… We start with the preliminaries, so you better be prepared!"

Sora's face lit up, "really!? Yes, we're going to win!" He shouted thrusting his fist in the air.

The group started celebrating and dancing around in a circle.

"I wouldn't get so cocky if I were you, a lot of shady characters are in this year's games." the goat warned.

The brunet brought a hand up to his chest, "Don't worry, we'll win no matter what! You can count on that!" He proclaimed.

The goat-man only chuckled and shook his head "whatever you say kid, just don't die on me out there."

The boy smiled; _just_ _keep doubting us, we'll make sure to surprise you._

The group easily swept through the first two rounds; all of the competitors were heartless so far.

_Maybe that's what Phil meant by shady characters. But these heartless aren't so bad; they are easy ones that we've dealt with before._

The three friends were pulled off to the side by the goat-man that they now recognize by the name of Phil. "Hey you guys ain't doing half-bad! Keep going like this and you just might win, good thing you had me as a coach!"

Footsteps approached from behind Phil and he stopped talking; a tall, blond man with spiked hair similar to Sora's and crystal blue eyes passed by the small group.

He shot them a cold, apathetic glance and continued walking.

"He looks like a difficult opponent; if you're lucky you just might face him."

Sora smiled at the thought of facing a strong opponent, but there was a foreboding feeling that he just couldn't shake off.

_I think that glance was meant for me. But why, does he have something against me? I've never met him before though, so why would he have it out for me?_

* * *

_Cloud:_

This whole game that Hades was playing was really starting to bore him.

At first he wanted Cloud to destroy a man by the name of "Hercules"; now he wants him to take out some little punk.

_I don't even know if this guy has the info I want._

He watched as the kid took out another bundle of heartless and celebrated among his friends.

Cloud watched Hades and noticed the increasing anger in his expression.

He turned to him, "Ok that little brat is your next opponent. Now don't blow it, just take him out; don't even give him a chance."

Cloud was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed; he glanced over at Hades and then looked away. "Humph, the great God of the Underworld is scared of a kid? Sorry but my contract says—"

The God went into a fit of rage "I KNOW WHAT THE CONTRACT SAYS! You think I don't know!? I wrote the contract; I know it says you're only supposed to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid, to get to him!"

His scarlet flames started to die down, and he pointed towards the group. "Hey, it's like that old goat says; Rule number eleven: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"

The blond man lifted himself off the wall and walked off without saying a word.

_I'm sorry but I can't find any pleasure in pointlessly killing people…Especially not after…_

Images of a raven haired man, with deep blue eyes, and an X-shaped scar on the right side of his jaw flashed through his head. He closed his eyes and tightened his hands into a fist; _especially not after what happened…_

The time had come for the fateful match between the small brunet and Cloud. As Cloud walked toward the center of the arena, large sword in hand; he noticed the boy and his group were already there, talking and smiling like everything was normal.

When he was finally at close range the boy turned around and smiled at Cloud. "Let's have a good match, ok?" the brunet said extending his hand in good sportsmanship.

The blond man looked at the small hand expressionless, he decided to humor the child, so he gave him a nice firm shake.

"My name is Sora, what's yours?" The child said smiling, holding his hands behind his head.

The small goat man had started to announce that the match was about to commence and that the competitors should get ready.

The blond man looked into the boys eyes for a moment, and found something strangely… familiar.

"Cloud, my name is Cloud Strife." With that said he turned away and prepared himself for battle.

The starting bell rang throughout the stadium. Cloud didn't make a move though; he waited to study what the young boy would do.

Almost on cue; the boy dashed forward with his two companions not far behind.

_A reckless move, fighting an enemy he's never known; he should be more cautious._

Sora attacks; swinging his Key at Clouds head, but to no avail. The blond man effortlessly blocked the child's attack with his massive sword. Sora stood wide-eyed before Cloud swiftly swung his sword against the Keyblade sending it, and Sora hurdling across the stadium.

He made no remark; this battle would be over with quickly.

The boy's two companions stared at his small body trying to heave itself off the ground; then they looked at Cloud.

He could see fear in their eyes, but not only that. There was something else there, something he guessed shown through his eyes far too often; vengeance.

_But their version of vengeance is just a small fragment of what I feel. No, they have never witnessed their comrade fall before them. They know nothing of fear, hatred, scorn, agony; not the way I do._

He could feel his very being, falling deeper and deeper into darkness. But he didn't care; if winning granted him his wish, it did not matter how many lives were lost in the process.

The boy's friends continued their assault as a meaning of allowing their companion to catch his breath and get back on his feet.

The larger one; the cartoony dog charged forward shield in hand while the duck chanted out the spell "thunder". Both were easily avoided and countered with a swift blow from his sword.

This blow would have hit if it were not for the fast actions of the dog; shielding him and his friend from the attack.

But the swing was still pretty powerful; many would think it's remarkable that a small frame such as Clouds could wield such a bulky weapon. But despite it, the dog and duck were blown aback pretty far.

The duck seemed to even be knocked unconscious from the blast. He started to walk towards them to finish the job when he heard a voice behind him yell, "Hey, leave my friends alone!"

He turned to see that the boy had regained his leverage.

The small brunet lifted his Keyblade to point at Cloud "You have something against me right? I can tell because of that look you keep giving me. Fine, fight me but leave them out of it!"

_Hmm…Is that so… That's very admirable but are you sure you're up to the task? You definitely have courage, but is that enough…_

He searched the boys expression for any trace of doubt, or fear. He was surprised to see, that there was none; though it was only natural to feel that way considering the situation, and more likely than not the boy was in fact feeling those emotions; he did not give them off.

What Cloud _did _see in the boys expression was fire; a fire that was all too nostalgic for his taste.

"Your bravery is astounding, but what you lack… Is a strong since of purpose, and without it; you will _never _defeat me. For my goal is too great."

The boy shook his head and placed a hand on his chest. "No you're wrong; I do have a purpose. My goal is to protect my friends, old and new. I won't allow them to get hurt; not while I'm around."

He poised himself for battle, "so there is no way I'm letting you win!"

This time the boy did not engage into a reckless charge. He seemed to have learned from his past attempt. But it no longer mattered; Cloud had studied him enough to know that this boy did not pose much of a threat.

His stance wasn't sturdy, and he wasn't exceptionally strong, he was pretty quick but not like Cloud. Also, the blond had not been taking the fight seriously, but he had still made a substantial amount of damage. But that was about to change, he wanted this over now.

The man broadened his stance slightly, and held his sword horizontally against his side. The small brunet seemed curious to what Cloud was doing, as he was eyeing him carefully.

In a flash the man had charged forward covering a large distance at inhuman speed; giving the boy a fraction of a second to react and dodge. But Cloud was prepared, at the exact moment his first attack had ended; he launched another attack. He slashed at Sora only to hear the sound of metal hitting metal.

Somehow, someway Sora had recovered fast enough to block his attack. It was hard on him though; that was obvious. The sound of him grunting, and forcing himself against the over-bearing weight was enough to make anyone tired just by hearing it.

Cloud pulled back his sword and swung lower, to strike at the boy's body.

Sora seemed prepared for that too, he jumped up, barely evading the blow; but as he came down he had his Keyblade ready to strike at cloud. The blond man quickly lifted his weapon and prepared to slash at the same moment.

Again; the familiar sound of metal clashing against metal rang throughout the stadium; sending fans into a frenzy of roars and applause.

When the two weapons met however, they caused both wielders to recoil. Sora was sent flying to the edge of the stadium, while Cloud stumbled back a couple feet.

But the boy was too slow on recovery; the man had already pulled himself together. He jumped up; again covering a large distance in what should be, an impossible way.

As he hurdled down toward Sora though, he held his sword pointing down; crashing into the concrete nearly hitting the brunet. He lifted his sword up and slashed at the boy; sending him crashing into a column.

Cloud walked toward the body, _Hit with that much force, my sword should have chopped him in half._

But when he got close to the limp, almost past-out child he realized that the only blood was a bit dripping down from a few scratches on his forehead, and some blood on his lip.

_But how is that possible? I know I hit him; wait…_

Cloud looked down at his sword. _Is it possible that I hit him with the blunt edge?_

_ He _looked at the boy who was exerting all his energy just to prevent himself from passing out.

_I never make that mistake. Did I do it subconsciously? Is it that, I really don't want to hurt this boy? _He shook his head, _No I have to do this. _

He readied himself for the final blow, but just before he struck; he looked into the boys eyes and realized what was so familiar in them.

That fire had still not burned out, no matter how bleak the situation looked to him, or how hopeless, this boy was still willing to keep fighting. Even if his body wouldn't move, his spirit was not broken; he still refused to back down and show fear. He looked up at Cloud with those same defiant eyes that he knew way too well.

This boy had Zack's eyes; he had the eyes of a person who would refuse to give up no matter what happened; the eyes of a person who would sacrifice anything… even themselves to protect those important to him.

Images of Zack's bloodied body as he spoke his last words to Cloud flashed through his mind. Then more images zoomed through his head, of a man with long flowing silver hair and grey eyes. All the lives he destroyed at the end of his sword.

Zack's last words echoed in his head, _"You're gonna… you're gonna live…You'll be my living legacy… My honor, my hopes, and dreams they're yours now." _

Cloud looked at his buster sword; which Zack had given him, and then he looked at the boy in front of him.

_Zack… I haven't been doing such a great job have I? If anything I'm acting more like…__**him. **_

Cloud allowed his sword to fall to his side.

_I was the one who was wrong… I was the one… without the right sense of purpose… And because of that, right from the beginning; I had already lost. _

The man looked straight into the boy's eyes, "I will not spill unnecessary blood. You win… Sora. Protecting your friends is a much stronger purpose. It seems I've forgotten that there is no purpose greater."

Sora's eyes widened, but Cloud would say no more.

He turned around and started to walk away. But suddenly a heavy object had him pinned against the floor; he noticed the arena squirming with panicked people. And before he blacked out he noticed Hades mouthing something to him with a sinister grin on his face "Oh, yeah there was one other rule I forgot; accidents happen."

_Sora:_

The boy sat wide-eyed; just moments ago this man could have finished him easily and now… Now that same man was rendered unconscious under the weight of a monstrous three headed dog with sharp fangs and red eyes.

_What… what just happened!? _

Sora attempted to stand up, wincing and trembling at the aching pain he felt all over his body from his recent fight.

_I can't move… if this thing attacks I won't be able to dodge it! _

As if the beast could read his mind, it reared up on its hind legs and launched itself forward to make a snack of the child.

Sora closed his eyes and braced himself, but strangely… nothing happened.

When he re-opened his eyes there was a tall and very muscular man with ginger hair holding back the three-headed beast. He couldn't believe it; it must take quite an amount of inhuman strength to keep the dogs at bay.

"Phil! Take them and go!" the unknown man yelled.

Before he knew it, he was being dragged away by Goofy and Donald (who had regained consciousness) the two were screaming in fear.

Back inside the coliseum lobby Sora sat on a pedestal looking at his feet.

"Hey don't pout kid, you did your best. That Cloud guy is one heck of a fighter." Phil said handing the boy a potion.

Sora took the potion, "that isn't the point. Back in the arena; he could have easily finished me off… but he didn't, he said that he lost because he didn't have the right sense of purpose. What did he mean? And he was so strong, I was helpless against him! To see such a strong guy so easily beaten by that thing; I—I couldn't move! But he chose to let me live, so I have to repay him. I can't let him go down like that."

The boy downed the potion in one gulp; he used his arm to wipe the remnants of the drink from his mouth.

"You can't be serious! You're going back in there!? This guy beat you to a pulp and you feel you have to _repay him?_ You don't have to worry about it, Herc's got it; sure he'll have to defend the guy _and _fight Cerberus, but he's done crazier! I say just leave it to him."

Sora smiled, "Maybe, but it doesn't matter. After all, I lost that battle with Cloud; I have to find _some _way to prove that I'm a hero!" He smirked, pointing his thumb toward his chest.

"Well where Sora goes, we go!" Goofy said with a laugh; "yeah! There's no way you're fighting alone! After all, we are all heroes!" Donald quacked.

Phil pinched his forehead, shook his head and sighed, "You guys are real reckless you know?"

he looked up and smiled, "But sometimes a hero doesn't have time to think, they just have to act. So if you think you can do it, I'm right behind you one hundred-percent!"

Sora and his group smiled.

Stepping back into the arena, he could see that Hercules was being cornered by the three headed dog Cerberus.

"Hey you dumb mutt! Pick on someone your own size!" Sora yelled.

At the sound of his voice the dogs turned around; growling and salivating at its new prey.

Hercules seemed to understand what was going on, he ran out of the arena with Cloud slung upon his shoulders.

_Ok, they're safe and I have this things attention… Now what do I do…_

he could hear Phil far behind him "Kid, I've got two words of advice for you; ATTACK!"

The dog crouched down until it was only inches from Sora's face,

"heh-heh… Nice doggy?"

The beast gave out a low growl, and barked loudly; covering Sora and his friends with drool.

"Ew that's disgusting, you really need to brush your teeth. Your breath sucks." He said holding his nose and waving his hand in front of his face.

The beast growled and snapped its jaws at the group; they barely escaped the attack but quickly retaliated. Donald shooting blizzard balls at the dog's heads, while Goofy and Sora attacked at its feet.

Despite their efforts, the attacks seemed to do little to no damage to the dog. In fact it seemed to make it angrier; it even  
started to stomp around at the nuisances around its paws.

The dog reared back, and stomped on the floor with its front legs; causing tremors to rivet across the stadium.

The tremors knocked Sora off balance; he ended up falling on the floor looking up at a very upset Cerberus.

But before the beast could chomp down on a Sora snack; Goofy launched his shield at the dog's nose, which received a loud high pitch whine from the enormous creature.

_Hah, leave it to a dog to know a dog's true weakness. Great job Goofy! _

Now all three heads had their attention on Goofy. Just when they thought it couldn't get any worse; the dogs started spitting fireballs; one of which, successfully lit Goofys rear end on fire; sending him spiraling into the air with his signature yell.

"I've got you Goofy!" Donald used a blizzard spell to put out the fire.

Sora threw his Keyblade at the dog's hind legs. "Hey you dumb dog, look this way!"

Again, the beast turned its attention to the small brunet, but this time he had a plan.

The three headed dog launched its heads forward to snap at the boy. But he jumped up, nearly avoiding the attack. He climbed on the creatures head and proceeded to attack at one of the dog's noses.

The beast let out an orchestra of high pitched squeals and wines while thrashing about.

Sora had to hold onto its ears just to prevent himself from falling off.

When the beast had finally calmed slightly, he stood on his head and pointed his Keyblade at the sky.

"Thunder!" he yelled.

Three lightning bolts fell from the sky, hitting their mark on all three of the dog's snouts.

A high pitch, heart wrenching cry rang throughout the stadium. Then like nothing the dog's banished in a rush of smoke.

Sora fell; now that the creature that he was standing on suddenly disappeared there was nothing to keep him suspended in the air.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Expecting to hit the ground with a crash he opened his eyes, relieved to see Donald and Goofy who had quickly caught Sora before he smashed into the earth.

"Thanks guys, I don't know what I would do without you." He said smiling.

Both characters hugged him,

"Aw, Sora we don't know what we would do without you either!" they said together.

Sora and his friends stood side by side in the center of the lobby; Phil stood on the large pedestal that they could not move when they first entered the lobby.

He cleared his throat, "Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further—"

"hey what do you mean _junior heroes!?_" yelled Donald; interrupting Phil's speech.

"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a _true _hero!" The goat man shot back.

"So, what does it take?" asked Goofy cautiously.

Phil looked up at Hercules,

"Well, that's just something that you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way I did." Herc said with a smile.

"That's fine; we'll prove that we're heroes someday!" Sora said triumphantly holding his fist up.

"Oh but before we leave I want to try one more thing…"

Phil cocked his head to the side, "oh and what's that?"

Sora whispered to Donald and Goofy; the two smiled and nodded their heads.

All three of them got on one side of the pedestal; Phil jumped. "Hey! You know you kids can't move that, it's too heavy for you!"

But he was wrong, this time Sora could feel it; the large object had gotten a lot lighter, and not just because there were three people pushing. The pedestal easily slid away.

"Ha! What's too heavy?" Sora gloated.

A flash of light interrupted him though; he looked at the ground that was covered by the pedestal.

"It's the Keyhole!" The boy aimed his Keyblade towards the glowing hole. A beam of light surged out of the key and a loud click was heard.

"Another one down." he smiled.

"It seems like that pedestal had a magic spell casted on it; so that no one would be able to move it unless they worked together. Even I tried to move it before and it wouldn't budge." Hercules explained.

"Really? Well would you look at that. It just goes to show you how important teamwork is." Phil added.

Sora and his friends smiled, "Well we'll see you around." The boy said happily.

"Yeah, someday soon." smiled Herc.

With that the group left the lobby.

* * *

_Cloud:_

Cloud sat at the gate that was the exit of the world; lost in thought. Memories of his old companion flashed through his mind, he could feel his face flush and his eyes water.

_All this time I haven't been doing you justice huh? What a lousy living legacy I must be. But that's ok; I promise I'll accomplish your dreams Zack. After all…you were my first love._

Another image flashed through his head; of a young woman with long brown braided hair and beautiful green eyes.

He remembered what Zack had told him to do; _"Say hi to her for me; keep her safe, and stay together because you guys are my best friends."_

That's right, there was one person left; the whole reason why he decided to help Hades was to find her. One more person who he had to cherish, he had to find her again.

He remembered that, throughout his and Zack's adventures Aerith had always been their source of light.

_I'm going to find her, and though I know things will never be the same. I know it's something Zack would want me to do. _

"Hey, what's wrong? You look a little down."

Cloud looked up at the sudden voice. It was Sora,

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The boy stood there twiddling his fingers as if he wanted to ask more.

"U—um… Why'd you do it? Team up with Hades I mean; Hercules said that you entered the games as one of his competitors."

Cloud brought his hands to his face; as if he had to think to respond. "I'm looking for someone; Hades promised to help."

The man stood up, "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired."

He looked up at the sky, "I fell into to darkness, and I couldn't find the light…"

It was true, he thought that nothing mattered as long as he accomplished his goal, but he realized nothing could be more wrong.

"Don't worry; you'll find it. After all, I'm searching too."

Cloud looked down at the boy; he noticed that same nostalgic fire burning in his eyes again.

"For your light?" he asked.

The boy nodded and smiled.

Cloud's expression softened, "You'll find it." He said as he walked past the boy and dropped something that he figured would be helpful for him in his hand.

As he walked away the boy waved and yelled "How about a rematch sometime! Fair and square, no dark powers involved!"

Cloud stopped and looked back at the boy.

He smirked and ran his fingers through his hair, "I think I'll pass." He said coolly.

_He sure is one interesting kid. I'm sure I haven't seen the last of him. _

* * *

_Sora:_

Sora smiled at the cocky reply he got from Cloud.

He knew that deep down he wasn't such a bad guy; just a little confused. In fact he reminded him a little of Riku.

_I guess I'll see you around Cloud; I'm sure you'll find your light, and I'll find mine; both of them._

**End of Chapter Four**

* * *

Riku continues to struggle with the decisions he's made. Should he trust Maleficent despite knowing her dark intentions? Or should he trust his best friend, who up until now, had never truly given him a reason to doubt him? But it is as if something inside him is telling him otherwise. Seeing Sora being so happy and friendly with anyone other than him had always made him upset, and to this day he still doesn't know why. Now he finds himself questioning whether it was just a mistake, maybe he was wrong?

**Next Chapter- Chapter Five: Eaten Alive**

_Authors Notes:_

This was another one of my favorite chapters, I really enjoyed writing from Cloud's perspective because it always kind of makes me sad. (Though I don't know why that's a good thing...) I really tried to integrate the bond, friendship, and trust that our three heroes have towards each other. Kingdom hearts is special to me because of that; you are never alone, there will always be someone there for you. It seems that Cloud had forgotten about that, he had been so focused on avenging Zack and finding Aerith that he seemed to lose everything else... even himself.

I included the couple pairing Zack and Cloud or "Clack" as some call it, because I actually really enjoy it. I'm not going to lie, I haven't played Crisis Core, (I don't have a psp) but I did watch the ending clip of Zack's death, and I swear it broke my heart and I broke down right there. Those two have a special place in my heart, whether their love is brotherly or something else, I will forever love them together.

I realize that maybe my scenario for Cloud in my story may have not been exactly like in Crisis Core, but I researched a lot and hoped to make it as similar as possible.

I strongly suggest that if you don't know who Zack is, or about his story-search him up, whether it be Youtube, Google, or anything really. You won't regret it, (or maybe you will because if you're anything like me you'll end up sobbing despite not really knowing anything about the game.) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Please, rate/review/pm me if you have any questions or comments or if you just want to give me some motivation! See you next week!


	6. Chapter 5: Eaten Alive

**[Disclaimer: I do ****_NOT _****own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy or any of their characters.]**

Riku is tortured by his conflicting feelings, he knows what he saw at Traverse Town, and he knows that he didn't like it, but he feels he can't label Sora as a traitor just yet. Maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to assume? He decides he will meet the boy one last time, and hopes that everything is not the way it seems.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Eaten Alive**

_Riku:_

Riku, Maleficent, and the underworld king by the name of "Hades" stood around the stone table. Maleficent had called them to discuss the capturing of the princess in Agrabah.

"That smarmy vizier could've had em—if someone had stuck around to give him a hand…" Hades said shooting Riku a glare.

"Hey, I don't remember you accomplishing anything with your _pawn_. Besides, the object of the mission was to collect the princess right? Well I did, so get over it hot-head." Riku taunted.

"What did you say!? Why you little br—"

Maleficent shot him a look to remind him to keep quite.

He gave an angry sigh and cooled down.

"Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred. One should beware of letting it burn to fiercely." the witch said with a glance in Hades' direction.

The ruler of the Underworld seemed to notice the glance, "Whoa, whoa, whoa; lighten up, I'm as cool as they come, ok?"

Riku let out a chuckle under his breath.

Hades picked up on it; he looked toward him and smirked, "By the way kid, have we got something special for you." He said temptingly.

Riku's face held a puzzled expression "What does he mean?" he asked, turning to Maleficent.

The witch had her back to him, "we had a deal, yes? You help us, and we grant you your wish…"

A green light appeared in the center of the stone table. In the middle of the light was… "Kairi!" exclaimed Riku jumping forward as if he could grab the girl right there.

Despite his past feelings towards Kairi, he was willing to look past it, because now… now they had something in common; they had both been betrayed by Sora... Now Riku was the only one that could protect her.

_You turned your back on those who care for you when they needed it most; so now I'll be the one who saves her, and I'll turn my back on you._

"Go to her; your vessel is waiting." The lanky witch commanded.

Riku heard footsteps behind him, he turned to see Captain Hook; a pirate that Riku had met when he was first introduced to the shady characters in their group.

"Just remember this is no pleasure cruise. It won't be a pleasant voyage." Spoke the pirate while giving Riku a wink.

The boy scoffed; as if he cared about comfort, but one thing was unusually odd about all this.

He turned to Maleficent, "Why are you doing all this for me? What's the catch?" he asked.

After all, the world doesn't run on good deeds; especially not with these people around. He knew there had to be something she was planning; if he were to place his trust in her, then the battle would have already been lost.

The woman smiled and turned to Riku, "_Catch?_ What's the catch?" she chuckled and placed her hand on his cheek; caressing it softly."Silly boy; you're like a son to me, I only want you to be happy."

Riku's hair stood on end; he slapped her hand off and stepped back. "I seriously doubt that." He shot; glaring at her.

The woman chuckled darkly, "Believe what you wish, but least we forget… I kept _my_ end of the bargain."

The silver-haired boy held her gaze for a moment; then he turned and walked off.

_As if that means I have to trust you. _

But he couldn't shake a nagging feeling in his gut; something was wrong.

_I can't go through with this without seeing him one last time. I need to make sure… What if I made a mistake? What if I'm wrong? _Riku's eyes widened_ what if I hurt Sora and in reality it was all just a misunderstanding? _

He thought back to all the fun times that they shared; the races that he beat him in, how the brunet would cry when the main character in a movie died and cheer when the character was revived. He remembered how they would gaze up at the night sky and make wishes on shooting stars, how the boy's smile seemed to make everything ok, and that one time… when the woman that he could barely remember; the one with the blue hair who appeared out of nowhere.

She had asked Sora if he liked him; he remembered that his heart quickened in anticipation, to this day he still didn't know why, but the young brunet had told her that that he did; he said that he was his best friend, and he even promised to protect him.

The boy felt his face get warmer, and he felt his heart throb for some unknown reason; _He promised… to stay by my side… he couldn't have been lying could he? Maybe I bought into that story about "him betraying me" too quickly. He wouldn't… it's impossible… _

Riku stopped walking; he was outside the castle now, and the soft rays of twilight illuminated the castle grounds.

He looked at his hand; remembering how it would always hold Sora's when they were young, he was older than him, so it was his responsibility to look out for him and make sure he didn't get lost.

He closed his hand into a fist and looked out over the horizon where the water fell into the ravine, "I'm going to see him one last time, to get rid of any trace of doubt."

_Then I'll know for sure… Whether to carry out this plan or go back to Sora…_

* * *

_Sora: _

_"A—achoo!" _Sora sneezed_; _he rubbed his nose with his index finger. "Where did that come from?" he sniffed.

"Ahyuk, I think someone's thinking about you!" laughed goofy.

"It's probably that girl Kairi." Donald teased.

"Hey cut it out! What's that supposed to mean!" Sora yelled; his face burning red.

The two characters only laughed. Sora sat down in his seat and looked out the gummi ship window. His face was still red and he was pouting, Kairi's voice rang through his head _"keep smiling ok?" _He smiled and felt his face flush even more.

_Ok Kairi, I'll keep smiling; I promise. _

Loud beeping sounds and flashing lights filled the ship; immediately Sora turned, held his hands up, and yelled "It's not me I swear! I'm smiling ok!" He made a large smile and pointed to it "See!" he said through clenched teeth.

"It's not a fuel crisis!" yelled chip; the chipmunk with the black nose.

"T—there's a large object, or creature up ahead coming in quick!" Dale (the red nosed chipmunk) yelled.

The group moved up toward the windshield to get a better look. There _was _something heading toward them, and it was coming in too fast to avoid.

As it got closer Sora noticed, "I—it's a giant whale!"

The monstrous sea creature opened its mouth and started sucking them in. "We're going to get eaten!" yelled Donald.

The entire gummi ship shook and spun; sirens wailed and lights flashed repeatedly.

Sora tried to hang onto something to keep himself from falling, but one violent shake knocked him against the wall. His vision blurred and dimmed; soon he was engulfed in darkness.

_"You sure you didn't just hear it this time?" Riku walked by Sora who held his hands behind his head. _

_"What difference does it make? There's a huge monster in there I tell you!" _

_The little boy with silver hair sighed, "All right, let's suppose there really is a monster…" he stopped walking; making the other stop as well. "Do you think we can beat it by ourselves Sora?" _

_the little brunet grinned and gave his friend a thumbs up, "No, problem! As long as we're together we can do it!"_

_The little silver haired boy blushed and smiled back, "yeah, you're right."_

_The two friends got to the entrance of the small cave behind the waterfall. _

_"Listen! There! Can you hear it growling?" yelled Sora._

_"Shhhh, be quiet all I hear is your noisy voice" _

_Riku leaned forward and put a hand to his ear; missing how his friend crossed his arms and pouted. "We've got to be careful…" said Riku softly. _

_The two friends walked through the cave; making sure to tread carefully as to not make too much noise and alert the "monster"._

_"This cave is dark" whispered Sora._

_"Shhhh! You'll wake up the monster!" Riku shot back silently._

_When they reached the center of the cave Sora let out a loud groan. "Aw where's the monster!?"_

_Riku looked up at the ceiling of the cave; there was a large gap in it showing off the clouds and sky. He pointed at the gaping hole, "See that? There's a hole in the ceiling letting air in. It was the wind making that noise."_

_ The smaller boy pouted, "Aw, I wish it was a real monster!" he whined. _

_ The brunet turned to something that had caught his attention, "Hold on! What's that over there?" _

_Riku walked over to what Sora was looking at. It looked like a large wooden doorway; the boy ran his hands over the smooth wood. _

_"A window, or maybe a door? It won't open…" he said, unable to find a handle._

_Sora looked upset, "Geeze, is that really all that's in here?" _

_Riku walked over to him a hand on his hip, "what else do you expect in a boring place like this?" he said coolly._

_ The brunet sat down and pouted, "I don't know…" _

_His friend continued to eye him carefully, "Hey, Sora." he said trying to get his friends attention. _

_The boy looked up at him; his eyes shining brightly in the dim cave, "hm? What is it?" he asked._

_The silver haired boys face turned a light pink color; "when we grow up, let's get off this island! You and me; we'll go on real adventures! Not this kid stuff!"_

_Sora smiled and got up, putting his hands behind his head again. "Sure, but isn't there anything fun we can do right now?" _

_Riku shrugged; the two boys started to walk out of the cave. _

_"Hey did you hear about the new girl that lives at the mayors' house?" Sora asked…_

A loud obnoxious yell woke Sora from his sleep, "Knock it off!" yelled Donald; tapping his foot furiously.

Sora gave a groggy groan; alerting Goofy.

"Hey Sora are you ok?" he asked worriedly.

Sora stood up and scratched his head, "Yeah, but what are you guys doing?" He looked around, "where are we anyway?"

The area was dark and moist much like a cave, but the walls looked a lot like flesh, and there was a part of the cave that had weird rock formations that looked a lot like teeth.

Goofy held his hat and looked around, "uh, ya know, I think that big ol' whale swallowed us"

An object flew down at Sora, "whoa!" Goofy laughed "And for today's weather, expect showers!" another object fell down and hit Goofy on the head. "Heavy showers!" he said covering his scalp with his hands.

The three looked in the direction that the object fell. There was a boy shifting through a treasure chest on a platform.

"Hey, what's the big idea!?" Donald yelled.

The black haired boy looked up from his scavenging. "It's me Pinocchio!" the boy said happily.

"Oh it's just Pinocchio… wait! Pinocchio!?" exclaimed Donald.

Pinocchio was a puppet that they had met in Traverse town; he had lost his world and was hoping to find his dad.

_What's he doing here?_

"Pinocchio!?" exclaimed Jiminy; appearing from behind Sora's shoulder.

Jiminy was a cricket that worked for the king; he came along with Donald and Goofy and kept record of their travels; he too was looking for his friends from home, and Pinocchio was one of them. The puppet picked up the treasure chest and started walking away.

"Pinocch, where are you going? Pinocch!" Jiminy yelled.

"He probably didn't hear you." said Sora; noticing Jiminy's sad expression.

The small cricket looked up at him, determination in his eyes. "Well what are we doing standing around! Let's go after him!" he said smiling.

The inside of the whale was filled with water and littered with planks of wood here and there.

_I kind of don't want to swim in that…_

"What are you waiting for!?" snapped Donald; pushing the boy into the water.

The brunet let out a yell and splashed in. He sat, soaked in brackish, smelly water which was pretty shallow where he was; he glared at Donald.

"_Ha-ha real funny_." he said sarcastically.

"It sure was, Ahyuk!" Goofy said laughing.

"Hey!" exclaimed the brunet.

_Goofy is supposed to be the nice one. _

The two characters laughed; the boy decided since he was already wet he might as well look for Pinocchio.

He noticed a small light farther ahead on what appeared to be a boat. "You guys do whatever you want; I'm going to check that boat out." He said turning to swim towards the flickering light on the small ship.

The boy was grateful that he swam a lot on the islands; he was a strong swimmer and had no trouble navigating through the foul smelling water that seemed to get deeper the closer he got to the ship.

_It's kind of eerie though… It feels like something is going to attack out of no-where—_ A loud shriek followed by a splash sounded behind him; making him jump.

He turned around in time to notice Donald's head poking out of the water and giving out a loud gasp.

Sora grinned, _that's what you get for pushing me in._

The boy turned and continued swimming towards the boat, more happily this time. When he was close enough; he started hearing voices on the boat.

"What have you got there, Pinocchio?" said an elderly voice.

"With this, we can get out of here father!" exclaimed the small puppet.

_I wonder what they're talking about..._

Curious, Sora attempted to climb the side of the boat so he would know what the pair was discussing. He saw a rope dangling from the side and used it to scale the vessel.

"Really, with this big block? You think so?" the old man said.

"It's true." Said the brunet; poking his head over the side of the boat.

The old man looked at Sora curiously.

"So how'd you get here Pinocchio? Oh and by the way, my name is Sora." he said turning to the elderly man.

He heard the sound of steps behind him, and he turned to see Goofy and Donald soaking wet.

Sora smiled, "Oh and those are my friends, Donald and Goofy." He said motioning to them.

The elderly man accompanying Pinocchio walked towards them, "So the whale swallowed all you too? My goodness!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah it looks like it." Sora agreed.

"My name Geppetto, I'm Pinocchio's father." He said motioning toward the puppet.

The raven haired doll smiled and put his hands behind his back.

Sora grinned, _He seems so happy; I'm glad he found his dad. _

He turned his attention back to Geppetto; who was explaining that when they were separated; he had traveled all over to find him. "Thank goodness we're together again." He stated happily.

The old man lifted up the gummi block that Pinocchio had brought him; "You seem to know Pinocchio quite well." His voice was coming out in strains because of the heavy gummi block.

"Hey do you need he—"

"No-no! I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" he said laughing.

He placed the gummi block down, "Well, we've all had quite the journey, right Pinocchio? Pinocchio?"

The old man had turned to see that his son had vanished.

"Where did he go!?" exclaimed Sora.

Geppetto sat down on a stool, "Oh it seems he's run off, Pinocchio can be a naughty boy but I still love him. He is my son after all. Can you please fetch him for me?"

The young brunet nodded.

The group got off the ship to investigate where the puppet could have gone.

"Hey look there's a tunnel that way!" Goofy exclaimed.

There was a passage in the wall of flesh, but it looked dark they couldn't see through to the other side.

"We don't know what's in there…" said the brunet.

"M-maybe we shouldn't go." stuttered Donald.

_No we have to. Pinocchio's probably in there and he could be in trouble._

Sora stepped into the tunnel; ignoring Donald's complaints. Each step he took made sickening sloppy sounds. It was disgusting and the boy had to use all his strength not to lose his lunch.

Suddenly he saw some light at the end of the tunnel; when he walked through he noticed the bright pulsating walls. There were splotches of color everywhere, and there were two large holes much like the one they came out of; Pinocchio stood at one of them.

"What are you doing Pinocchio? Come on, let's go back." Sora said motioning for the puppet to come over.

"You know, Geppetto is awfully worried about you." said Goofy, trying to convince the boy.

But still the puppet refused to move; "Pinocchio! Stop fooling around! This is no time for games, you could get hurt." The brunet scolded; some anger in his tone.

He gave the raven haired doll a glare, but it still refused to move.

"But Sora, I thought you liked games." A voice mocked.

Sora turned to see a familiar silver-haired boy appear from one of the doors.

_What!? _

"Or are you too cool for them; now that you have the _Keyblade_." He said smirking.

"R—Riku, what are you doing here?" Sora asked.

The silver haired boy placed a hand on the puppet's head, "Just playing with Pinocchio."

Riku's statement made the brunet's blood boil. "Stop Joking Riku! You know what I mean; what about Kairi, have you found her?!"

The boy shrugged, "Maybe; catch us and I'll tell you." He said, smirking.

"Come on Riku stop that!"

The silver haired boy chuckled and grabbed the puppets arm, "let's see if you can catch up." He taunted, giving Sora a wink before disappearing through the passage behind him.

_Riku what's up with you!?_

* * *

_Riku:_

Riku dashed through the passage-ways inside the whale with ease. After all, he didn't need to fight any heartless; Maleficent controlled them, and she had placed countless traps for Sora to fall in.

_Good luck catching up to me now Sora._

He could hear the sound of the young Keyblade wielder fighting off heartless.

"Why are we playing tag with Sora?" asked Pinocchio in a curious voice.

Riku didn't stop running, "Cause I like teasing him that's why." He said coldly.

"Oh… and you promise that you'll help my dad and I get out if I play with you and Sora?" the puppet asked hopefully while he was practically being dragged by muscular boy.

"Yeah." he responded; feeling slightly guilty for lying to the puppet.

_It doesn't matter; he's just a puppet. He might not even have a heart._ The boy's eyes widened at a realization. _ Wait, but if he does, maybe I can give it to Kairi. After all she's nothing but a puppet herself at the moment._

Both he and the puppet ran for a while, but the sounds of Sora and his companion's struggles were long gone.

Riku slowed his pace and ultimately stopped; he was panting and gasping for breath. A smirk appeared on his face, "I think we lost them." He said in between breaths.

"That was fun!" Pinocchio exclaimed excitedly.

The silver haired boy smirked, "Ok Pinocchio, we don't want them to get lost so I need you to go on a special mission. Go back a few rooms and wait for them, and when you see them coming make a run for it; all the way back here, ok?"

The puppet nodded his head and walked back out of the passage they had come from.

This left Riku alone again, allowing him to get lost in thought once more.

_Hmph, that's funny, he seemed so delighted to see me last time; what happened now? Heh, what am I not interesting enough to you anymore Sora? _The boy smiled sadly. _I think… I was wrong to give you a second chance. I brought my hopes up for nothing… _

A dark corridor opened in the room, and stepping out was none other than Maleficent. "What do you want?" he said angrily; he was in no mood to talk to the witch.

"Why do you still care for that boy? He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companion's after-all…" she said, approaching Riku.

"I don't care about him… I was just messing with him a little." he lied.

The witch smiled disbelievingly, "_Oh really? _Of course you were." She said arching and eyebrow.

The boy refused to look up at the witch.

_You… you can believe what you want…_

The witch placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Beware the darkness in your heart; the heartless prey upon it."

Riku slapped her hand off, "mind your own business!" he yelled.

The woman sneered and opened another dark portal. "As you wish young prince." she said softly; stepping through the portal and disappearing.

_What would you know? _

After a long while of silence; the sound of shuffling feet echoed through the corridors. Pinocchio ran through the entrance, "They're right behind me!" he yelled and exited through the other door in the room.

The puppet was right; more footsteps were heard soon after he had left the room.

Sora and his group appeared through the door. When the brunet laid eyes on the silver haired boy he gave him a glare, "Riku! What's the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?" he fumed.

The silver haired boy scowled, "I was about to ask you the same thing Sora." He said; earning a confused look from his "friend". "You only seem interested in running around and showing off that _Keyblade_ of yours these days. Do you even _want_ to save Kairi?" He said coldly.

He seemed to have hit a soft spot because the brunet's expression instantly saddened. "I—I do." He said, looking down.

Their conversation was interrupted by a piercing yell; Riku turned toward the tunnel.

"Pinocchio!" yelled Sora.

Both boys ran through the passage way.

* * *

_Sora:_

On the other side of the tunnel was a large room; the center of the room was a large, shallow crater, and in the middle of that crater was a large heartless with Pinocchio in its mouth.

"Don't worry Pinocchio; we'll get you out of there!" Sora yelled.

Riku looked at Sora, "are you ready for this?" He asked; sounding a bit more like his normal self.

The brunet grinned, "Yeah, for sure!" exclaimed the brunet.

This was more like it, him and Riku fighting _together _instead of targeting each other was way more appealing to him.

"Hmph…"

but the silver hair boy still held a dark atmosphere around him.

_What's causing Riku to act like this? Did… did I do something to make him angry?_

Sora noticed that Riku had come upon his own weapon; it was a sword, but it was shaped like a bat wing.

_He always gets the really cool stuff. _

"Hey are we going to save the puppet or are you going to gawk at me all day?" he said, a slight smirk on his face.

Sora's face grew red, "I was **_not_** gawking at you!"

The silver haired boy only chuckled.

In the blink of an eye, Riku started moving. He dashed toward the large heartless easily dodging and evading the creatures tentacles.

_Wow he's gotten better, but so have I; now's my chance to show him what I've got._

Sora leapt forward as well, while the creature was distracted with Riku's quick movements; the brunet was able to easily get close and strike the heartless with a few combos.

The creature shrieked and started thrashing its tentacles around more viciously.

Donald stayed back, he shot fireballs and Ice shards at the beast; refusing to get any closer to it.

Goofy on the other hand was aiding Sora and Riku up close.

The dog flung his shield at the creatures head, but the heartless caught it right before it made impact; flinging it straight back to its owner.

The shield hit Goofy and knocked him against the wall; Sora turned around, "Goofy! Are you ok?!" He yelled worried for his friend.

A large tentacle appeared behind him; it wrapped around him and started to squeeze and suffocate the boy.

"He—lp" he choked out.

His vision started to blur as he saw Riku jumping up and slicing the tentacle, freeing Sora along with it.

He kneeled down to the brunet's level, "Are you ok, Sora? Say something!" the boy asked urgently.

Sora coughed, "I'm ok, thank you." He smiled.

The silver haired boy's face flushed as Sora looked up at him, and for a moment he thought he saw a trace of… guilt in his eyes.

_Riku? _

"I—if you're ok then let's keep fighting this thing. We still need to save Pinocchio…" he said standing up.

Sora stood up as well, "yeah, now it's payback time, no one messes with my friends!" he exclaimed, gripping his Keyblade tighter.

The brunet lunged forward, avoiding each and every attack that the heartless threw his way; he realized Riku was right beside him doing just the same.

_You don't need to protect me, don't worry!_

Sora jumped up and slashed at the creatures teeth that were trapping Pinocchio.

Another loud shriek was heard; _ok a few more hits should do it._

Sora pointed his weapon at the heartless, "Fire!" he yelled.

A large fireball burst from his Keyblade and made its mark at the center of the creatures face. The heartless wailed loudly and fell through a hole in the floor.

Riku had no hesitation following it; Sora close behind.

Falling through the hole; they landed where they had started, on the small boat.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Please, give me back my son!" begged Geppetto.

Sora turned to see Riku standing on a wooden platform; carrying the boy in his arms.

"Sorry old man. I have some unfinished business with this puppet." he said coldly.

This seemed to strike a nerve in the elderly man, "he's no puppet! He's my little boy!" Geppetto yelled.

"He is unusual… not many puppets have hearts. I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone whose lost theirs…" the silver haired boy explained.

Sora stepped forward, "wait a minute; are you talking about Kairi?" the boy asked.

"What do you care about her?" Riku shot back.

He walked away before the brunet could say anything else.

Sora looked at Geppetto, "Don't worry, we'll bring him back." He said, trying to reassure the old man.

_Riku, what's going on with you?_

* * *

_Riku:_

Riku stood on a dry platform suspended above stomach acid.

_I saved him… Of course I did, I can't let him get hurt… But why did it scare me so much to see him in that situation. _

Riku thought back to when Sora was being crushed by the tentacles.

_My body reacted way before my mind did. Damn it Sora, why are you so important to me?! _Riku shook his head, _what's wrong with me…_

"Hey let Pinocchio go Riku." The boy turned around to see Sora and his group appearing through the tunnel on the other side.

_So you've finally come. _

"A puppet that's lost its heart to the heartless… Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi." he said.

Riku squeezed his hand into a fist; _This is it, I'll make one last effort, if he doesn't care about me… Maybe he'll care about her…_

"How about it, Sora? Let's join forces to save her." Something inside him was desperately hoping to convince the brunet; he didn't want this… he didn't want to fight with him anymore. He just wanted everything to be a big misunderstanding.

He walked toward the boy; holding a hand over his heart.

"We can do it together." He said, trying hard not to let the desperation in his voice show through.

Sora glared at Riku and brought his Keyblade up; ready to fight.

The silver haired boy's eyes widened, "What? You'd rather fight me, your _best friend _over a puppet that has no heart?" he asked.

"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience." the brunet stated.

"Conscience?" he questioned.

"You may not hear it, but I do, and right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me, that you're on the wrong side Riku!" The brunet exclaimed.

_No conscience huh…_

The silver haired boy looked at Sora straight it the eye, "Then you leave me no choice." He stated coldly.

He raised his blade and steadied his stance. But before either boy could make a move the heartless that they had defeated dropped down from the ceiling; shaking the ground when it landed.

Riku stumbled a bit but regained his balance, _great timing as always… Maleficent._

He turned around and opened a dark corridor to go back to Hollow bastion; the world that he has been residing in so far.

He took one final glance at the boy which he once believed so strongly in.

_So long Sora… you've made your choice. The next time we meet, we'll be enemies. _

The boy walked through the corridor; ignoring the brunet's call.

**_I was wrong._**

**End of Chapter Five**

* * *

Sora is troubled by his friend's actions, he's known Riku for a long time and he, more than anyone else knows that he has a really kind heart. So why is he acting like this? Sora can't help but think it's his fault, will their next meeting resolve their little feud? Or will it only lead more questions to be answered?

**Next Chapter- Chapter Six: Two Sides, One Goal**

**Authors Note: **

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm going to head to bed now, I'm really tired... All I've done is write. Goodnight!

**Review/PM if you've got any questions or comments! **

(Thanks for the favorites and follows by the way :3)


	7. Chapter 6: Two Sides, One Goal

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts Franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy or any of their characters.**

Sora can't help but feel a little bugged by Riku's disappearance. His friend has been acting rather strangely lately, and he can't fathom up a reason why. They both want to achieve the same thing-to save Kairi- so why are they on opposing sides!? Riku on the other hand, has all but given up on Sora, and dreams of the day when he can finally show him the pain that he feels. But is that really what he wants? Deep down inside, what is it that he truly feels for his friend?

* * *

**Chapter Six: Two Sides, One Goal**

_Sora:_

The group was in the gummi ship again; after defeating the large heartless within the whale, the monstrous sea mammal had seemed to gain indigestion. It spewed out the group, including Pinocchio and his father; who were now inside the gummi ship gawking at all the flashing lights and buttons. Donald scolded them, saying something about 'it being dangerous if they don't sit down.' And whatnot, but Sora was not paying attention.

The brunet laid his head back on the chair; looking up at the ceiling.

Back inside of the Whale's belly, when they defeated the heartless; Riku had disappeared… he was nowhere to be found. The place was shaking and it was hard to keep his footing, both Donald and Goofy had already run out carrying Pinocchio but Sora stayed. He called Riku's name countless times, desperately hoping that his friend would appear.

_He just… vanished. Where did he go? Why did he try to hurt Pinocchio? I wonder if it has something to do with Kairi, but what happened to her? _

Sora shook his head.

_This doesn't make sense… why has Riku turned against me? We both want the same thing, we want to save Kairi and have adventures like before, so why is he being so stubborn! _

"Hey Sora, be upset later! We're running out of fuel and we need to get to traverse town!" squeaked chip.

Sora snapped out of his thoughts, he laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "ha-ha, woops… Sorry guys."

Goofy and Donald gave him a worried look,

"it's ok; no really it's fine!" he smiled reassuringly. But he knew he wasn't going to convince them. After all, he could barely convince himself.

* * *

_Riku:_

Riku stood in the captain's quarters. When he had gone back to Hollow Bastion the witch had told him that Kairi was waiting for him on Captain Hook's ship.

He stood in front of her now; she lay motionless on a couch near the ships window. Riku stood silently watching her; his eyes had turned dark and hazy. He had all but given up on Sora; the only one that mattered anymore was Kairi.

Back inside Monstro's stomach, Riku had offered Sora to join with him so that they could help the girl; hoping that maybe, _she_ would be enough to reunite the friends, but it wasn't… not even she was important to him.

_You really don't care about anyone Sora; all those things you said to Kairi and me… about us being special to you. I guess that was a lie. _

Riku clenched his fist, _if Kairi means that little to you, then I bet I'm worth even less. I'm the only one that's been losing my mind over this, but not anymore; I give up, I relinquish all hope of you becoming the Sora I once knew._

Riku looked over the girl's motionless body, "So Kairi really is like a lifeless puppet now…" he whispered.

"Precisely." Spoke a voice behind him. He didn't turn around; he already knew who it was.

"So what happened to her heart? Was it…"

"Taken by the heartless, no doubt." said the witch behind him.

He spun around, "Tell me! What can I do!?" he asked urgently; _Sora may not care about her but I won't leave her like this. She hasn't even seen any of the new worlds. _

"I've told you already about the 7 maidens of the purest heart correct? Well then I hope you remember what will occur when we collect all of them." The witch said.

"Yeah, Kingdom hearts right?" he asked, rather impatiently.

"Correct, Kingdom hearts is the heart of all worlds; surely you will find her heart there. After all, that is where all the hearts gather, and legend has it, that unlocking Kingdom hearts will grant you your greatest wish."

Riku looked up at the witch, trying to find any traces of deceit. _Is that true, can I trust her? I guess I have no other choice right now do I?_

"Now, I will grant you a marvelous gift; the power to control heartless!" Maleficent waved her hands over the boy, engulfing him in a strange green light.

Riku felt a surge of power run through his body, it burned through his veins; the energy zipping like electricity through him.

He turned towards the girl who had lost her heart; "Soon Kairi, soon." He said firmly.

_I'll save you, and I'll do it without __**his **__help. _

* * *

_Sora:_

After a quick trip to Traverse Town to drop off Pinocchio and Geppetto, and to get their ship looked at to make sure that it was in good enough shape to fly; the three heroes set out to discover more new worlds and hopefully recover their missing friends.

"I'm tired~ why is this taking longer than before!" Sora grumbled impatiently.

"Because we've been to all the worlds close to Traverse Town, we need to go farther out to—" beeping sounds filled the ship; stopping Donald mid-sentence.

Sora's eyes grew wide, "No—don't tell me that we ran into the whale again!?" the brunet cried out.

But something was off; with the whale, there were bright flashing lights accompanying a noisy bundle of whistles and beeps, this time was different… no lights and the noise wasn't as loud.

"Uh, a big ship is nearby…" Goofy said uncertainly while pointing at the radar.

Sora let out a breath, "Oh that's good, at least it's not the whale!"

Donald smacked the back of his head, "What's so **_good_**about it!? It's a pirate ship moron!"

_A pirate ship, really!?_

As children, Sora and Riku would play pirate on the islands with the other kids and the winning side got to save Kairi and have her join their crew. But their "pirate ships" were just small makeshift boats with little designs on them, so Sora was more excited rather than worried about the large ship.

But when he looked out the windshield at the vessel, he realized that the ship was coming in quickly. Much too quickly to be avoided, "it's going to ram us!" the boy yelled; finally realizing the urgency of the situation.

Before anyone could even think of what to do, the pirate ship easily overtook their smaller vessel.

...

_"Hey Riku, you want to be captain?! If you do, you're going to have to fight me for the spot!" the small brunet exclaimed happily, holding up his wooden sword. _

_The young silver haired boy looked at the sword indifferently, "not really, I don't really care much for Pirate games." The boy said coldly._

_The small brunet dropped his stance and his smile fell, "Don't you want to play Riku? We have to rescue Kairi from Tidus and the others!" Sora said in an almost, whiny tone. _

_"What does it matter to me if she's captured by them? Seems like that's her fault anyway, she should know how to defend herself." Riku said harshly._

_The small brunet's eyes became watery and he dropped his sword. "You… you don't like Kairi, Riku? Or are you bored of these little kid games that we play all the time? You don't want to play with me anymore?" Sora said sadly._

_Riku's eyes widened, and he walked over to Sora and picked up the sword at his feet; he held the wooden weapon out to the boy and smiled, "Jeez, Sora… I can't ever mess with you cause you start crying. Of course I like Kairi, and I'll always want to play with you. I just don't want to be captain today; I think you should be it instead." _

_The silver haired boy smiled sweetly and brushed off a tear that had rolled onto Sora's cheek. "No more crying, ok? If your crew members where to see you like this, what would they think!?" he mocked. _

_The brunet's eyes widened, "U—um, I wasn't crying! Sa—salt just got in my eyes! Yea, salt!" he lied._

_Riku laughed, he held a finger up to his lips. "Don't worry, I won't tell the others!" he said smirking. _

_"Riku! It was salt!" the brunet complained; the other only laughed. _

...

Sora opened his eyes slowly to see that he was face down on a hard wood floor. "uhh—where am I?" he groaned.

He sat up and looked around, he was on the pirate ship that had rammed their small vessel, well whatever the case it looked like the ship had taken him and his friends to another world. But something was off, _where are Donald and goofy?_

"I didn't think you'd come Sora." A familiar voice spoke; the brunet looked up in surprise.

_Riku! _

The silver haired boy stood on a higher part of the deck; surveying his friend.

"Good to see you again." The boy said in a cold sarcastic tone.

"W—where are Donald and Goofy?" Sora asked cautiously.

Riku flashed the brunet an irritated glare, "Are they that important to you? More important than old friends… instead of worrying about them, you should be asking about her…" The silver haired boy stepped aside to reveal a familiar girl sitting on the ground behind him.

Sora's eyes widened, "Kairi!" he yelled out.

"That's right, while you were off goofing around, I finally found her." The boy scoffed.

Sora glared at Riku, _you act like I haven't been trying at all! _

The brunet turned to run toward the staircase that led to where Riku and Kairi were, but was stopped dead in his tracks by a gleaming metal hook.

"Not so fast. No shenanigans aboard my vessel boy."

Sora looked up to see the face of the person who was blocking him. It was a man with long black curly hair, and a large nose that had a thin pointed mustache right under it that was parted in the middle. The man wore a red coat over an old-fashioned white dress shirt, along with a rather large, red, feathered hat, but the most obvious thing about the man is that he had no right hand; instead there was a large metal hook in its place.

Sora studied the hook for a second longer and then looked up to his friend, "Riku, why are you siding with the heartless!?" The boy asked frantically.

"The heartless obey me now, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear." His friend said smirking.

Sora clenched his teeth and squeezed his hands into a fist, "You—you're stupid!" The boy shouted.

It took everything he had to insult his friend like that, he had always regarded Riku so highly, and even if they would call each other names every now and then, it would only be out of endearment.

"Sooner or later they'll swallow your heart!" he yelled out, desperately hoping to reason with his friend.

"Not a chance. My heart's too strong." The silver haired boy said arrogantly.

"Riku…" Sora said softly.

_What's gotten into you? It doesn't matter how strong you are, the heartless can still take you! _

"I've picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this for instance…" Riku held his hand up at Sora.

The brunet jumped when his shadow appeared in front of him, as if it had gained a life of its own.

_What is this! My—my shadow?_

"You can go see your friends now." As the silver haired boy spoke, the floor beneath Sora opened up; sending him falling into the lower decks.

He reached his hand up as he fell, but only saw the cold gleaming eyes of the shadow, that watched silently as he plummeted into the abyss.

"Gawrsh, you don't say." said Goofy.

"Yeah it was definitely Kairi. I've finally found her!" stated Sora happily.

"All right! A-hyuck, let's go up and talk to her!" exclaimed the dog.

"yeah!" agreed the brunet.

"Sounds great, but first… how about getting off!" Donald fumed.

The three were piled one on top of the other, the angry duck being at the bottom of the heap.

"Oh, sorry." he laughed.

Sora stood on the tips of his toes to try to see through the peephole in the door.

"Impossible, there are way too many heartless outside!" he whispered frantically.

He turned to Donald and Goofy, "Any bright ideas?" he asked.

The two cartoony characters only shook their heads.

The boy looked down and crossed his arms, _how am I supposed to save Kairi if I can't even get out of here!? _

"Ahem—how you doing there?"

the boy looked up at the sound of the mysterious voice.

A tall red headed boy dressed in green jumped out from behind the barrels. "Are you looking for a way out?" he asked with a grin.

"Uh, who are you?" asked Goofy.

The red headed boy pointed his thumb at himself, "I'm the answer to your prayers!" he said arrogantly.

The group eyed him with distrust. Donald looked especially unconvinced; he had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot rather impatiently.

"Okay then, fine have it your own way." The boy scoffed and crossed his arms.

Sora blinked, "but you're stuck in here too, aren't you?" he asked.

"Humph—no, I'm just waiting for someone." He said smugly.

Sora glared at him, _and where does he get off being all high and mighty. I don't see you getting out of here anytime soon. _

But the boy decided to play along with the red-head. "Ok, who are you waiting for?" he asked.

Suddenly a small light appeared and starting orbiting Sora "whaa!—" the brunet jumped.

"Tinker bell, what took you so long?" when the light finally stopped moving Sora noticed that the twinkling light was a small fairy with blond hair and a green dress.

_Wow! A real life fairy! _

"Great job so you found Wendy?" asked the red-head happily.

The small fairy nodded her head yes, she then started signaling her arms around and it looked like she was explaining something, but Sora couldn't understand; all he heard was the sound of tinkling bells.

"What, you're saying there was another girl there too?"

The brunets eye's widened, _is she maybe talking about… Kairi? _

The fairy crossed her arms angrily.

"Are you crazy!? There's no way I'm going to leave Wendy!" the strange boy replied fiercely.

Donald started laughing, "a-ha! She must be pretty jealous!" he mocked while pointing at Tinker bell.

The fairy turned around angrily—her face flushed.

She floated toward the laughing duck, when she was close enough she gave him a nice clean kick to the beak; causing his head to bob back like a spring.

Tinker bell crossed her arms and flew off.

"No come on Tink! Open up the door!" the boy pleaded.

But his request fell on deaf ears, as the fairy did not come back.

"—Ahem" coughed Donald while tapping his foot again.

The red-head sighed and extending his hand to Sora.

"I'm Peter Pan."

"I'm Sora." The brunet tried to shake his hand but the boy had pulled it back already.

"Okay, we're in this together, but only until we find Wendy. Then I never want to see you guys again, got it?" he said threateningly.

Sora glowered at him; obviously it would not be easy working with this strange pointed eared boy.

After Tinker bell had left, the group had tried numerous things to unlock the door but nothing seemed to work.

"uhhhhhhh, how do we get out! I need to save Kairi!" Sora said impatiently.

Peter also looked worn out, "Did you try that thing? It's shape like a key, will it open any lock?" he said pointing to Sora's Keyblade.

The brunet blinked, "Oh, why didn't I think of that?"

He pointed his key at the door and a beam of light shot out, causing a 'click' sound to come from the lock.

"heh-heh… it was that easy huh?" the boy laughed nervously; scratching the back of his head.

Peter brought his hand to his face, "How don't you know your own weapons abilities? I'm dealing with a complete idiot aren't I?" he sighed.

"Who are you calling an idiot!?" Sora yelled.

"Who do you think?"

Peter stood up from the barrel he was sitting on.

Sora hadn't noticed before but the red-head wasn't touching the ground… he was… floating!

Peter flew towards the door and opened it slowly, creating a slight creaking noise that made Sora cringe.

The group walked through the doorway to reveal an empty hall.

It was eerie-quiet, _that's strange, up until a moment ago I could have sworn there were a ton of heartless out here._

Sora took a step forward, and as if on cue, 5 heartless appeared at once.

Sora readied his Keyblade but before he could do anything Peter had already vanquished the heartless with a few quick blows from his dagger. He tossed his dagger in the air and caught it at the handle, "come on, don't tell me these little guys scare you?" he said cheekily.

_He's definitely a lot stronger than I thought, but he's so cocky! I'll show him whose better at fighting heartless. _

Sora smirked, "Of course not! I could defeat ten easy!"

After walking around in circles and defeating armies of heartless here and there the group was finally starting to get worn out. But at least for now, thanks to all the fighting they've been doing; everything seemed to be a lot more peaceful.

"Um, how come you can fly?" Goofy asked.

Sora had wanted to know too, but he couldn't figure a good moment to bring it up.

Peter turned around and gave them a questioning look. "Anyone can fly!" he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

The small fairy appeared again; still looking quite angry.

Peter laughed nervously, "Don't tell me you still haven't cooled down, Tink."

He grabbed the small fairy by her wings, and strangely enough she didn't protest. He hovered over the trio and sprinkled Tinker bells fairy dust onto them.

"Just a little bit of pixie dust… there, now you can fly!"

The group still looked at the boy with distrust, but Donald tried anyway. He jumped up and attempted to flap his wings, but fell flat on his face. The small pixie only laughed in his face, Sora had to suppress a laugh himself.

_I don't think Peter Pan would tell us the secret to flying, after all he doesn't like us, let alone trust us._

Despite that, Sora wanted to pry into the boys thoughts a bit more.

"Hey, this Wendy girl… what is she to you?" Sora asked cautiously.

Peter blushed and scratched his cheek, "U-um, she's someone very important, and I promised that I would show her all the fun spots in Neverland. That way, she and her brothers and sisters will never have to grow up."

Sora smiled at his answer, she really did seem like someone special to him.

"Well what about you? Are you the same?" he asked.

The brunet blushed and smiled, "yeah… Kairi is someone very important as well. Both she and Riku are two very special people to me; I don't know what I would do without them… They are very dear to me, and I would give anything for the three of us to hang out like we used to…" he said nostalgically.

Tinker Bell gave a small guilty pout; she pulled on Peter's shirt to signal him towards a door. When he opened the door there was nothing but an empty room, "What is it Tink?" he asked confused.

"Peter? Peter Pan!?" a voice cried out happily.

It was coming from the room above; the red-head flew toward a vent in the ceiling to look at the girl calling out his name.

"Wendy, it's you!" he said excitedly.

"Please hurry! The pirates are coming soon!" she begged.

"What!? Don't worry I'll be right up!" he replied urgently.

Sora looked up through the vent, "hey Wendy…" he said cautiously.

"yes?" she asked.

"Is there… another girl in there with you?" he asked.

"Oh, why, yes. But she seems to be asleep, she hasn't budged an inch!" the English girl replied.

Sora became hopeful, "Kairi? Kairi! It's me Sora!" he extended his hand out to her.

It was very subtle and difficult to tell but Kairi's hand did twitch. That small movement was enough to tell him that she was ok; he smiled.

_Kairi, she's ok! _

He heard the door open in the room above, Wendy yelled out, and she along with Kairi were taken out of the room.

"Wendy!" Peter cried out.

"Don't worry, we'll save them!" Sora reassured him.

_I know we can._

After all, they were two precious people, there was no way that they couldn't do it.

* * *

_Riku:_

"What! So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?!" Captain Hook yelled out.

"There are seven, supposedly, and Maleficent says, she's not one of them." Riku said indifferently; obviously paying no mind to the pirate's anger. "Hoist anchor as soon as possible; leave all the dead weight behind… including her." He said calmly.

"After all the trouble of capturing her! And why those seven?! What is Maleficent planning anyway!?" the pirate fumed.

"Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less." Riku stated coldly.

"You're wasting your time. The heartless have devoured that girl's heart. I'll stake me other hand it's lost forever."

Riku clenched his fist, "I _will _find it, no matter what."

The pirate stopped trying to reason with Riku and walked away grumbling something about 'having to put up with an annoying brat'.

The boy walked toward the seat near the window of the ship.

He flopped down onto it and let out a sigh; snapping his fingers and causing the shadow Sora to appear. The heartless Sora stared down at Riku with glowing yellow eyes.

The silver haired boy smirked and placed a hand on the shadow's cheek. "You're more like the old Sora that I knew… Maybe a bit too quiet, but you follow me around and only me."

Sadness clouded his eyes.

Maybe it was the fact that, _that _Sora was a heartless and fed on the grieving and dark parts of the heart but… the shadow leaned in and embraced Riku, much to his surprise.

He felt a throbbing feeling in his chest, and his heart started to race; he felt his face flush and he soon found himself hugging the heartless as well. He didn't know why he felt an odd source of comfort from hugging this creature but at the moment he didn't want to let go. He felt his sadness edge away, and be replaced with something else…

Riku slowly pulled away from the heartless and looked at it; _I don't know why I get like this… But I know that you aren't the real Sora… No the real Sora is long gone… Soon you will be too. _

He stood up from his seat, shadow Sora following close behind.

The door opened to reveal Captain Hook carrying Kairi on his shoulders and dragging Wendy behind him.

"I brought your dear girlfriend." He mocked.

"She's not my girlfriend… we just happened to be betrayed by the same person. She's my… friend." Riku said calmly.

Captain Hook placed Kairi on the seat, and dragged Wendy out of the room. "No let me go!" the girl protested but the pirate struck a blow to her head and knocked her unconscious.

The two left the room and Riku picked up the girl; she was still limp and lifeless.

_Don't worry Kairi… I'll save you. _

He opened a dark corridor, but as he started to walk towards it, Sora burst into the room.

The brunets eyes grew wide, "Riku!" he yelled, extending a hand out to him.

The silver haired boy only turned away and walked through the dark portal.

_Now, play your part. _

* * *

_Sora:_

The brunet had tried to reach Riku and Kairi but was blocked by the heartless that had taken his form.

When Sora looked past the shadow, Riku had already disappeared… taking Kairi with him.

The heartless and Sora stood face-to-face, the shadow showing no expression whatsoever.

The brunet stared into the shadows glowing eyes and summoned his Keyblade.

"Why… why did you get in the way!"

Sora jumped forward to lash at the shadow. The figure moved slightly to dodge the attack. It tilted its head at him, as if it were confused. The shadowy creature moved toward the brunet; Sora stood his ground.

The heartless started to circle him, he continued to keep a close eye on it. The shadow came in really close and stared at him curiously, it placed a shadowy hand on Sora's cheek, its touch was icy and empty, but it seemed to convey a message.

He felt a rush of emotions fill him; anger, jealousy, sadness, pain, fear, despair… love.

_Whose feelings are these? Why… is it showing me this?_

Sora couldn't bare the pain anymore; all the conflicting feelings inside him were tearing at his heart and ripping him apart. He felt cornered, and caged he felt like he couldn't trust himself, or anyone, he felt—**_alone._**

He put his hands to his head and screamed out in agony. Tears started flowing from his eyes, and he fell to his knees in front of the shadow. "St—op, Please… stop…" Sora pleaded.

The shadow looked down at Sora with a blank gaze; never lifting its hand from the brunets cheek, forcing him to look up at him.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy had burst into the room.

At the sight of his friend in peril, the duck shot fire magic at the heartless. The shot hit and sent the heartless flying to the other side of the room. The two characters ran toward their friend.

Sora sat, unmoving from his position. His hands were still firmly holding onto his head and his eyes were wide in fear. He could barely make out the sounds of Donald and Goofy calling his name, and he was faintly aware that he was shaking.

A tear dropped from his chin, and he looked up to where the heartless was. He slowly brought his hands down to his side.

_What… what was that? _

Sora stood up on unsteady legs; his balance was still a little shaky, he needed to rely on Goofy slightly to stand up straight.

Sora shot the heartless an icy look; he knew… that those creatures couldn't feel, so those feelings… that _agony _had to come from someone else. The heartless had fed off that person's turmoil and suffering to make itself stronger.

The boy had recovered himself slightly now, his fear and pain were replaced with absolute hatred.

"I can't take a thing like you feeding off of someone's unhappiness and using it for your own benefit!" Sora pointed his Keyblade at the shadow.

"A heart is not something you play with!"

The boy dash forward once again, expecting the creature to move; it did. Sora lashed out his Keyblade at that moment and the shadow disappeared. But the battle wasn't over… the room was quiet; the brunet scanned it left and right for the heartless.

"Sora watch out!" yelled Donald.

The shadow had appeared behind Sora, the boy moved left and swung his Keyblade back, landing a blow on the heartless. While the shadow was dazed, both Sora and Donald cast the 'fire' spell; doubling the damage.

When the smoke had cleared, again the heartless had vanished. This time it appeared on the far end of the room and quickly dashed toward Sora, but was intercepted by Goofys shield.

The dog chuckled, "I've got your back Sora!" he exclaimed.

Sora smiled and nodded his head; _you don't scare me shadow… _

He jumped over Goofy landing behind the heartless. _With good friend's like mine…_

the shadow turned and looked at Sora. _I will never fear the darkness! _

Sora slashed at the shadows torso, landing the heavy blow.

The heartless floated still with its head lowered for a couple of seconds; a dark circle started to appear beneath it.

"That person… whoever it was… They were suffering, they felt hopeless and lost, and all they wanted was some sort of comfort, but you… you used that for your own benefit! When someone is at their weakest, you feed off of their pain… and you thought you could defeat me using that?" Sora nodded his head,

"what you did… it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced, and I can't imagine what this person must have gone through, what they are _still _going through. But I know one thing is certain… there is light at the end of every tunnel, and though it may seem dark now, I know that person will find the light. All they need is someone to guide them to it, and I'm sure they'll find that person, after all… I'm searching too."

The heartless looked up one last time, there was a faint smirk on its face, but Sora stared into its glowing yellow eyes fearlessly.

A loud, eerie, whispering sound filled the captain's quarters and the heartless sunk into the dark abyss; the shadowy circle disappearing soon after.

After defeating the shadow Sora, Peter appeared from a small entrance in the floor, carrying Wendy, who was unconscious.

"You found her!" Sora exclaimed happily.

Tinker bell appeared and started circling Peter, "Come on Tink! Not now, I've got to get her to safety."

The small fairy looked at Peter with a pained expression and flew away.

The red-head looked at Sora with a serious disposition, "Well Sora, this is as far as I go… I've gotta help Wendy."

The brunet nodded; from the start he knew that the boy wasn't interested in carrying on further past this point.

Peter opened one of the ships windows and flew off. Sora was kind of sad to see him go but he understood; after all, she was his most important person.

The group stood in front of a door that obviously had to lead to the outside of the ship. They didn't know what was going to be out there but this was the only way to leave.

Sora walked toward the door and hesitantly reached for the handle. When he opened it there was no one outside; the group walked through the door. When all three had gotten through, heartless appeared around them.

All of the heartless held their swords out towards the group. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were forced to be back to back.

"Quite a codfish, that Riku—running off with that girl without even saying goodbye!" a voice mocked.

Captain Hook had appeared from behind the heartless.

"Run off where? Tell me, where did he go!?" yelled Sora.

"To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides."

Sora's eyes grew wide, _Maleficent!_

"But… you won't be going there." The pirate held up a glass case containing Tinker Bell.

The brunet gasped, "Unless you intend to leave your little Pixie friend behind!" Hook laughed.

Sora looked down and gripped his Keyblade in frustration. He sighed and loosened his grip, making his weapon disappear.

The heartless came in closer, "hand over the Keyblade and I'll spare your lives! Be glad I'm merciful, unlike the heartless. So, which will it be? The Keyblade, or the plank?" he asked.

A ticking sound started to fill the ship; this obviously seemed to unsettle the Captain. He ran toward the edge of the boat and looked into the water. "It's him! The crocodile that took me hand! Oh Smee, he's after me other one! I can't stay here!" he yelled frantically.

His accomplice stood holding the glass case with the pixie in it; unsure of what to do.

"Go away! Oh I can't stand the sight of him!" Hook ran toward his underling.

"Smee, you take care of them!" with that said the pirate ran towards his room.

Sora was at the edge of the plank now, the heartless had pushed him there, and if he were to fall, the crocodile would surely take him as a snack.

_Think, think… what can I do? I can't fight the heartless… who knows what they'll do to Tinker Bell?_

Peter's voice rang through Sora's head.

_"Fly Sora! Just believe and you can do it!" _

When he first met Peter Pan he wasn't sure if h could trust him, but maybe… that was what was stopping them from flying before. Maybe it was the lack of trust and faith that they had towards Peter and Tink.

Sora closed his eyes, _Ok Peter Pan… if you say I can fly… _Sora jumped off the plank, _I believe you!_

He felt himself plummet, but before he could become a tasty morsel for the crocodile, his body started to get lighter, he flew upward barely missing the crocs jaws.

A grin appeared on his face as he looked down at the ship. _I—I'm flying! I'm really flying! _

Donald and Goofy cheered as he encircled the ship, happily doing flips and circles in the air; for a moment, he had forgotten the situation that he and his friends were in.

Smee started walking toward the edge of the boat, ready to drop Tink into the water. Sora's eyes widened in surprise, he flew towards them as fast as he could, but there was no way he was going to make it in time.

_No, I can't let her fall! _

But before Smee could drop the pixie into the water, Peter swooped down and snatched her.

"Peter Pan!" Sora exclaimed; a large grin lighting his face.

"You didn't think I'd just leave you and Tink behind did you?" he replied winking and holding his thumb up.

The red head opened the glass case and let the small fairy out. Now Donald, Goofy, Peter, and Sora all stared at Smee. The Pirate obviously didn't want to be the target of their attacks, so he ran towards the nearest lifeboat, with his tail between his legs.

Sora and Peter laughed and High-fived at the pirate's cowardliness; now the only ones left were a small army of heartless, but even they were easily vanquished.

Peter Pan tip-toed up to the captain's quarters; he motioned for Sora to come over. The brunet walked up to him and the pointy eared boy tried to suppress his laughter.

He knocked on the door, "is that you Smee? Did you finish them off?" Hook asked.

Peter laughed silently; he pinched his nose and mimicked Smee's voice. "Aye, Captain, they walked off the plank, every last one of them!" the red-head said, giving a wink to Sora.

Captain Hook burst through the door; he looked around to confirm what he was told. Peter Pan tip-toed behind the captain holding his dagger up; when he was at a close enough distance, the boy pricked the man's butt with his dagger. This sent the man flying off the ship with a wail; he landed with a splash next to the hungry ticking crocodile.

Captain Hook stared at the reptile in horror, he shrieked and frantically tried to get away, "blast you Peter Pan!" he yelled out. Sora and his group laughed loudly at the pirate's humiliating defeat.

Now that the ship was empty the boy allowed his mind wander. His gaze was serious as he stared out into the ocean.

"Uh—Kairi couldn't wake up, so maybe she's really lost her hear—"

"Shh!" Donald silenced Goody before he said anything that would hurt Sora.

The three characters looked at the boy worriedly.

"I can't believe it… I actually flew! Wait 'til I tell Kairi! I wonder if she'll believe me… probably not." He laughed.

The brunet knew that his friends were worried about him, but Sora refused to be sad.

Peter smiled, "You can bring her to Neverland sometime. Then she can try it herself!" he stated happily.

Sora smiled and turned to him, "if you believe, you can do anything right? I'll find Kairi… I know I will! There's so much I want to tell her; about flying, the pirates, and everything that's happened!" he said hopefully.

_And then… maybe me her and Riku can go back to being how we used to be… I miss Kairi, but I won't lose hope! I know I'll find her again, and because I believe it, it'll definitely come true! Because... she's my most important person._

Tinker Bell flew in and circled Peter Pan. She started motioning again, and the sound of tinkling bells filled the air as she spoke. "What's that Tink? What about the clock tower? You say there is something there?"

The group flew to England in the large pirate ship; Peter pan steering.

Once there, Sora immediately saw what Tinker Bell had meant. There was a large keyhole on one of the faces of the clock tower. The brunet knew what he had to do; he flew towards the keyhole that lead to the heart of the world.

He looked back at Peter Pan one last time; he smiled and waved.

"Thank you for everything!" he yelled.

"You're leaving so soon? Alright, but you can come to Neverland whenever you'd like!" the red-head replied, giving the boy a thumbs up.

Goofy and Donald joined Sora. The brunet turned back to the clock; he summoned his Keyblade and aimed it and the keyhole.

A beam of light shot out from it and a loud click was heard, the heart of the world was locked. Now, they could return to their gummi ship.

_Kairi… I'll save you, and Riku too; he's probably being manipulated by Maleficent right?._

_We both want the same thing but he is fighting for the wrong side… but I know I can convince him, we're best friends after all right?_

**End of Chapter Six**

* * *

Despite knowing about Kairi's missing heart, and Riku's betrayal; Sora remains hopeful. He refuses to believe that this is the end, after all-even in the darkest of times, there will always be a source of light! But is he the only one that thinks that? Does Riku even want anything to do with Sora anymore? Will the misguided boy only lead himself further and further into the darkness, only to be completely consumed?

**Next Chapter- Chapter Seven: The Key to Unlock Your Heart**

**Authors note:**

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It's actually my favorite chapter in the first fic. I don't know why, it just gets me all emotional when Riku has his moment with shadow Sora! I hope you guys payed close attention to all the little details in this chapter (and all the chapters for that matter) because they will be relevant later. Everything will be sown together in a beautiful web of tears, pain, friendship, and romance. A lot of the minor details (especially the ones that speak of the past) are extremely important in later chapters, so keep your eyes out!

**Review/PM me if you have an questions or comments!**


	8. Chapter 6,5: The New Girl

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts Franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy, or any of their characters.**

**Authors Note:**

Are you surprised!? If you're wondering why I uploaded two chapters this week instead of one, then you can stop wondering. This is not _really _a chapter, it is, but it isn't. It deals with Sora and Riku in the past, and is actually _extremely_ important for the development in the story (and a great excuse for me to put Soriku fluff). The reason I say it's not a _real _chapter is because it's not exceptionally lengthy like my other ones (usually covering a good twelve pages, while this one only covers around five) that's why I say it's a half chapter, hence the 0.5. Well I hope you enjoy it! It's lot's of well deserved Soriku fluff for my readers who have been sticking by me all this time!

Sora and Riku are best friends, and they always have been, ever since the day the brunet reached his hand out to him. Because of that, Riku finds it difficult to share Sora with anyone else, and they play alone all the time. He was hoping to keep it this way until the fateful arrival of a certain "New Girl". Can he deter her away from Sora the same way he has done with everyone else in the past?

* * *

**Chapter 6.5: The New Girl**

_Riku:_

_"Of course I like Riku! He's my best friend!" _

Sora's words echoed in the young boys mind.

He blushed and stuffed his hands in his pocket, "Tsk, Sora don't say such embarrassing things!" he whispered to himself.

Riku was on his way to the brunet's house; the day was scorching, and the heat made it seem like the sidewalk ahead was blending into its surroundings.

"Ah, it's hot… I hate the heat. Why do _I _have to be the one to go to _his_ house?" he said, sounding irritated.

He kicked a small stone on the pavement and it bounded forward a few feet. Riku continued to kick the stone as he walked past the houses that lined the sidewalk; the stone seemed to keep his mind off the heat, but he wouldn't need it much longer. Soon he would arrive at Sora's house and they could play on the secret island they had found.

The boy stopped walking and looked up; there was a girl he hadn't seen before standing in front of him.

"H-hi…" she said, her voice soft.

Though Riku was curious about where she came from, he had no intention of having a conversation with the girl.

"Hey." He said coldly, and continued to walk past her.

It's not that he had anything against her, but he wasn't much to socialize, much less play with girls; their idea of fun was to dress up dolls.

Oddly enough the new girl was standing in front of Sora's house; she was walking in the opposite direction of Riku and had stopped when she saw him.

None the less, the silver boy had reached his destination; he turned toward Sora house and walked up to his door. He was aware that the strange girl was watching him even now, _is she mad at me or something? Get over yourself. _

The silver haired boy knocked on his friend's door. The sound of someone running downstairs was heard from inside; the door flung open and a bright-eyed brunet, with a large grin on his face appeared.

"Riku you're here!" he exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, I'm here, and I would like to get to the beach already because it's really hot." He said in mock anger.

"Ew, Riku you really stink! You're all sweaty!" Sora laughed, holding his nose.

The silver haired boy hit the top of the Sora's head, "and whose fault do you think that is!? Why don't you walk to my house sometimes!?" he fumed.

The brunet covered his head, "ah~ Riku is a big meanie!" he whined.

"Why you—uh, fine, whatever let's just go." Riku sighed, giving up.

"Mom, I'm going with Riku ok!" Sora shouted.

"Ok, be careful!" his mother called from inside.

The brunet closed the door and the two boys turned and started walking, but they stopped when they noticed that the girl was still standing on the sidewalk, looking at them.

Riku shot her a glare, _get lost! What are you still doing here!_

He squeezed his hands into a fist, "Hey, Riku… who is that girl, I've never seen her before." Sora whispered.

The girl flashed a bright smile at the two boys and continued walking in the direction she was going.

"Hey Ri-chan, that girl was kind of cute huh!" Sora exclaimed.

"Hmph, I think she's just weird, and don't call me Ri-chan!" the silver haired boy said angrily.

"Whatever, let's just go!" Riku grabbed Sora's hand and started pulling him forward.

"Ri-Riku, you don't need to hold my hand!" the brunet said, blushing.

"Yes I do, or else you'll get lost. I'm older so your mom put me in charge of you!" Riku said smirking.

Sora formed a pout, but he didn't complain anymore; he allowed his friend to continue leading him.

The two boys made their way to the secret island that they had found by chance one day while adventuring on their small vessel.

They started pulling their boat onto the sand, "hey Riku…" the brunet said while pulling the boat.

"Yeah?" his friend replied also pulling the craft.

The vessel was a safe distance from the water now, it wouldn't get pulled out to sea again, so the two let go.

"Why don't we ever tell anyone else about this place? Don't you think it'd be fun to play with a lot of people here!" he asked excitedly.

Riku shot him a cold look, "No. This is our secret spot, we found it so we can't tell anyone else about it!" he said angrily.

"I, I just thought it might be fun to have a few more friends to play with…" Sora mumbled sadly.

Riku grabbed the brunet's hand, "But I'm your best friend aren't I? You don't want to hang out with me?" the silver haired boy said sadly.

Sora looked up at him, "no that's not true! I love playing with Ri-chan!" he shouted out.

Riku placed a hand on Sora's head and ruffled his hair, causing the brunet to blush.

"Good, because I love playing with Sora too." He said smiling; a small tint of pink on his cheeks. "Now come on, let's get in the water; the heat is killing me!" he complained.

The two boys took off their shirts and ran into the water.

Sora swam around and dove under the surface to find seashells while Riku floated on his back.

"Hey Riku!" the brunet yelled.

The boy stood up, only to have seawater splashed in his face. He gave Sora a serious look and spit out the salty water that had landed in his mouth.

"Oh yeah?" the silver haired boy grinned.

He plunged both of his arms under the water and brought them up to splash a large amount of it at Sora.

"Hey! No fair I only used one arm!" the brunet whined.

"I didn't know there were rules against that. I'm so very sorry _princess._" The boy mocked.

"What did you call me!?" the two boys continued to splash each other for quite a while, and the heat of the day was soon forgotten.

The two friends sat on the beach looking at the sun setting into the water.

"Hey Ri-chan." The brunet said.

One of Riku's eyebrows twitch, "When are you going to stop call—"

"I had a lot of fun with you today, and I'm glad you're my best friend Riku. Let's stay best friends forever!" said Sora grinning.

The silver haired boy felt his face flush, "mhm, let's stay best friends forever." He said happily.

Riku extended his pinky, and Sora intertwined it with his own.

The two shook their hands up and down and sang the usual song that children sing when they pinky swear. "Pinky promise, if I lie, I will drink one-thousand needles, and cut my pinky." Sora smiled, "Now, if either of us breaks our promise; we'll have to drink one-thousand needles!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, cause that sounds like fun." Riku said sarcastically.

Both boys laughed loudly and shared jokes under the light of the setting sun.

Night was going to fall soon, so the two boys hurried back to the main island. But when they went to dock the boat, Tidus and his group, along with the new girl, were standing on the dock.

"I knew you guys had some type of secret hiding place! Where did you guys go!? Did you find a pirates island? Why're you holding out on us?!" Tidus exclaimed loudly.

Riku finished tying the small wooden boat to the dock, and shot the loud boy an icy look.

"It's none of your business loud-mouth." Riku said coldly.

"What'd you call me?! I outta'—just where do get off being all high and mighty!?" the blond boy shouted, squeezing his hands into a fist.

"I think I have all the right to act all, 'high and mighty'. After all I'm definitely a hundred times better than a pea-brained dork like you." Riku smirked.

"Why you—" Tidus launched forward to attack the silver haired boy, only to be held back by Selphie and Wakka.

"What good will fighting do, stupid!" shouted Selphie.

"I agree, ya; just leave him alone." said Wakka.

Riku stared at the seething boy in front of him; he then looked at the girl that had been watching all of this unfold.

He shot her a cold look, _the same goes for you. You aren't allowed to play with Sora._

The girl looked away from him.

"You're a real jerk you know that! I'm so sick of you, to think I felt bad for you because you always seemed to be by yourself. Why is Sora friends with you!? You're just a big, stupid jerk!" Tidus said bluntly.

Riku stayed quiet, he had nothing to say. He agreed with everything that the boy had said; Riku didn't get along with people, it was just impossible for him. He was cocky and looked down on a lot of people, and he was sarcastic and cruel; he never really took anything or anyone seriously.

Riku chuckled, "you're ri—"

Sora ran between the two boys. "Leave Riku alone!" he yelled out, his eyes watery.

The silver haired boy's eyes widened in shock, "Riku ni-chan may not be the best at making friends, and he has a hard time talking to people, because he always says what he's thinking but… he's a really good person! Riku… always watches out for me, and he laughs even when my jokes aren't funny! He plays with me every day, and always keeps his promises; he defends me from mean people too! I know Riku can act like a big meanie, but that's not the real Riku! The real Riku is a nice and caring friend!" yelled Sora, tears rolling down his cheek.

Riku stood, shocked, S_ora… defended me…That's right, from the very start; Sora never looked at me with unkind eyes…_

...

_"Hey what's your name?" a small brunet asked the small silver haired boy who was lying on the lawn in front of his house. _

_"What does it matter to you?" said the silver haired boy. _

_The brunet smiled, "well how am I going to be your friend if I don't know your name?" he said laughing._

_"Maybe I don't want to be your friend?" Riku said coldly. _

_"You don't want friends? Isn't that lonely" the boy pouted. _

_Riku raised an eyebrow, "it's not like it matters to you right?" he replied._

_"It does matter to me! Because well… I know it's lonely, not having any friends…" the brunet said in a sad voice._

_The silver haired boy decided to humor him, "ok, but why do you want to be __**my**__ friend?" he asked._

_"Well, I don't have any friends either, and I think you look really cool, so I want you to be my first friend!" the boy stated happily._

_The silver haired boy blinked and a smile formed on his face; he started laughing. Not many people could make him laugh; the brunet tilted his head and gave him a questioning look._

_"Ha-ha, only because I look cool? You sure are a strange one!" he chuckled, wiping a tear that had formed on his eye from laughing._

_"It's Riku, my name is Riku." He said, extending his hand out to the boy._

_A grin formed on the small brunet's face, "Nice to meet you Riku! My name is Sora, let's be good friends!" Sora said happily, shaking Riku's hand. _

...

He felt his face heat up at the memory.

Tidus gained a guilty expression, and his friends let him go.

The blond boy scratched the back of his head, "I'm sorry, that I said all those things… I don't know you that well but I still said some really mean things, huh?" Tidus apologized, sounding truly sorry.

Riku didn't want to apologize to him, because he had meant every word that he said, but he knew that probably wouldn't be the best course of action.

"… I'm sorry too… I shouldn't have said what I said…" he replied in an apologetic tone.

_Even though what I said was true. _

"Hey I have an idea! Why don't we make up by playing pirate next time with the new girl, Kairi?" Tidus exclaimed, motioning toward the small red headed girl.

Riku's eyes widened, _What!? Wait, no!_

"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Sora.

Riku gritted his teeth, "Tsk, fine! Do whatever, like I care." He stormed off, ignoring Sora's calls.

_No, no, no! I don't want to share Sora with anyone else, he's __**my **__best friend!_

Lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed that someone had been following him. He turned around and the red headed girl with the white dress was behind him.

_Kairi! _

"What do you want!" he spat.

She smiled at him, "You don't want to share Sora do you?" she asked calmly.

Riku was glad she had noticed, because he wasn't willing to come up with anymore excuses and sound like a nice guy.

"No I don't! He's my best friend, and I don't want him being friends with them! I especially don't want him being friends with _you._"

He expected the girl to cry, or at least be shocked, but she still had a soft smile on her face.

"Don't you think that's for Sora to choose?" she said chuckling.

The boy squeezed his hands into a fist, "and what, do you think Sora will choose _you_?" he asked coldly.

The girl chuckled and turned around; looking back, she said "I'd be careful if I were you Riku. Try to hold onto something too tight and all you'll do is drive it away."

The girl walked off, and he glared at her.

_I want you to be the farthest away from Sora. _

**End of Chapter 6.5**

* * *

**Authors Note: **

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter(it's another reason for why chapter six is my favorite). I got my inspiration from reading the doujinshi "Innocence" made by the same person who made "Crown". before anyone says anything, I don't hate Kairi, and I don't think she's a bitch, I just feel that her and Riku had a bit of a clash in the beginning. I also do _not, _under any circumstances think Riku's a jerk. He is my all time favorite character, but the reason I love him so much is because of all the character growth he had. He changed from being selfish and competitive, to a complete sweetheart who truly cares for his friends and would do anything to protect them. (He obviously cares about Sora, but he's going about it the wrong way). I made this chapter because I find it fun to analyze the psychological reasons for Riku acting the way he did in the beginning. I also really like the growth in the relationship between Riku and Kairi; in the later stories, especially "Shadows come forth to light" this mini chapter becomes really significant!

I hope you enjoyed this mini chapter! Please, try not to be upset with any of the characters, there is a reason for everything they do. There are no bitches or jerks, keep reading and you'll be sure to understand!

**Review/PM me if you have any questions or comments!**


	9. Chapter 7: The Key to Unlock Your Heart

**[Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy, or any of the characters.]**

_These last two chapters make me sad._

This Journey is soon coming to an end, will Sora be able to rescue his two best friends? What about Riku? As he pushes himself deeper and deeper into the darkness, he becomes unaware of the dangers that lie in wait.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: The Key to Unlocking Your Heart**

_"Hey Sora." _

_The small brunet turned to look at his friend, his eyes shining brightly in the dimly lit cave. _

_Riku felt his face get warmer._

_"Hm, what is it Riku?" the small brunet asked._

_"When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!" the boy exclaimed._

_Sora smiled and put his hands behind his head, "Sure, but isn't there anything fun to do now?" _

_Riku shrugged, "I don't know, I guess we'll just have to make are own fun." he said with a smirk._

_The boys started walking out of the cave._

_ "Hey you know the new girl at the mayor's house? She arrived on the night of the meteor shower!" exclaimed the brunet in amazement._

_But Riku wasn't listening, he stopped walking-he heard someone... call his name. _

_The small brunet didn't seem to noticed and he continued to ramble while exiting the cave. _

_The silver haired boy turned toward the strange door in the cave; was that what was calling him? He walked toward it, and he could feel some dark force pulling him closer towards it, but he couldn't stop. _

_He reached out his hand to touch the wooden door-_

_"hey Riku! What's taking you!?" Sora's voice snapped him out of the trance. _

_He looked at the boy, and then down at his own hand. "I… don't know…" the silver haired boy said in a soft voice._

_The small brunet walked up to him; he grabbed his hand and started leading him out._

_"You're acting strange Ri-chan, now I'm the one that has to take care of you!" Sora said with a grin._

_Riku blushed, "h-hey! I told you before; you don't need to take care of me!" the boy complained, but he didn't shake his friend's hand off. _

* * *

_Riku: _

The silver haired boy was on his hands and knees, gasping for air. His body felt like it was on fire and his chest was heaving greatly. Sweat dripped from his jaw, and he couldn't prevent himself from groaning out in pain.

"It was reckless to bring her here without at least using a vessel. Remember… relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart." Maleficent scolded.

Riku was starting to regain some of his composure, "Shut-up!" he shouted in between gasps.

A large thundering sound filled the castle; Riku looked at the direction it came from.

"A castaway…" said the witch.

The silver haired boy turned to her, he was no longer heaving but his body still felt battered-not like he would show it.

"A castaway?" he asked.

"Though his world perished, his heart did not. When we took the princess from his castle, he apparently followed her here through sheer force of will. But fear not… no harm will come to you. He is no match for _your _power." She reassured.

"My… power?" the boy asked.

The witch smiled darkly, "Yes, the untapped power that lies within you. Now, child, it's time that you awaken that power, and realize your full potential."

She brought both her arms upward, and Riku was bathed in a green aura. The boy looked down at his body, the sensation was similar to the one before, but it was stronger… darker and it felt like it was opening something inside him.

_With this power, I can rescue Kairi._

Riku looked up, _watch out Sora, because I won't be going soft on you. _

* * *

_Sora: _

"Come on, come on, come on! Let's get to the next world already! Riku and Kairi have to be there for sure!" The brunet whined.

"Pipe down! We're getting a video call!" Donald shot back.

Sora stopped complaining, and noticed that indeed a small beeping sound was filling the ship. Chip pressed a green button to answer the call; it was Cid. The middle-aged man had made several calls to the boy and his group while they were on their journey, but it was mostly to check up on them and see if they have found any more pieces of Ansem's report.

"Hey what's up kiddies!" the blond man said.

"Hey Cid, can we head out to the next world without reporting in!? It's really important that we get there quick!" Sora blurted out impatiently.

Cid rubbed his chin, which still had stubble because he had not shaved in a while. "Hmmm~ you really can't wait any longer can you? I can tell 'cause of that goofy determined look you got on 'ya."

Sora nodded.

The middle-aged man smirked, "Well, as long as 'ya got your sights set on something important, it's alright by me." He said with a thumbs up to Sora and his group.

The brunet's face beamed with happiness, "thanks Cid!" he said gratefully.

The group set out to the next world. Cid had warned them to be careful, because the next world was "Hollow Bastion"; the world that he, along with Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith, had to abandon because it was overrun with heartless.

_"That place is still probably crawling with those things, I'd be careful if I were you." _

Sora wasn't scared; he would easily go through a million of those creatures to save Kairi.

He felt his face heat up, _Kairi is someone very important to me… I'll do anything to make sure she's safe._

His heart beat quickened as he thought of her smiling and laughing with that cute voice of hers. He wanted them to play together again like they used to. But something inside was making him feel uneasy; Riku… what was wrong with him? He definitely wasn't acting like his usual self. Why was he so intent on saving Kairi by himself?

The brunet's eyes widened and sadness crept into his heart. He remembered back on the islands, Riku had said that he wanted to share a paopu fruit with the red-headed girl. The silver haired boy swore that he was joking, but now… maybe it was true… maybe Riku did like Kairi? Maybe he felt that Sora was just in the way, and wanted her to himself.

The brunet looked down at his hand; he extended his pinky out.

"But… you promised… we'd be best friends forever. Is a girl really all it takes for you to break it?" he whispered.

The boy clenched his hand into a fist, _no that's impossible! Even if Riku did like Kairi… even if both of us like the same person—Riku would definitely never act like this! He only wants to protect Kairi, because that's what friends do for each other! Someone else must be filling Riku's mind with dark thoughts… that has to be it! _

Sora was determined to figure out who was manipulating his friend, and put an end to their plans.

_No matter what, I'm leaving with both of them! _

The gummi ship landed and the trio stepped out.

Sora's eyes widened and his mouth dropped, "Wow, this place is huge!"

He was completely awe-struck, the world before him was painted with a deep blue color, water falls crashed down around him, and floating rocks littered the air and made a trail that led to a platform.

This world was much like the worlds he and Riku had dreamed of going to; it was like one big fantasy. But the most amazing thing was what was _beyond_ the platform. An immense copper/metallic castle stood not too far from the ravine that they were in.

But something was off, he had never stepped foot in that world before but it felt strangely… familiar.

"I feel like I've been here before…" said the brunet.

Goofy gave him a worried look, "that's strange."

Sora placed a hand on his chest, "I feel this warmth inside… right here." He said softly.

**_"Home."_**

"Aw, you're just hungry." teased Donald.

"Hey, I'm serious!" yelled the brunet.

The two were about to start bickering, when a large bellow echoed throughout the ravine.

"W-what was that!" stuttered Donald.

"I don't know but it sounded like it came from up there!" said the brunet, pointing to the platform.

The trio scrambled as quickly as they could up the floating rocks to reach the place that they had heard the roar. At the top, they found a large beast lying on the ground; its breath coming out hoarse and shaky, and in front of the creature was…

"Riku!" shouted Sora.

The silver haired boy gave him a smirk.

"So, you finally made it. About time, I've been waiting for you." He said.

The brunet glared at Riku.

"We've always been rivals haven't we? You've always pushed me, as I've always pushed you." The silver haired boy said; a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Riku…" the boy called out to his friend sadly.

_We're rivals, and best friends… We have always been together so why… _

"But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters."

Sora's eyes widened, "what are you talking about!?" he shouted.

_How are there two Keyblade masters? I'm the only one... right?_

"Let the Keyblade choose… its true master!" Riku held his hand up, and Sora felt a tug on his weapon, he pulled against it.

_No!_

It was no use; the Keyblade vanished from his hand and reappeared in Riku's.

The silver haired boy held an expression of contempt and gratification. "Maleficent was right… You don't have what it takes to save Kairi, it's up to me." he said coldly.

Riku raised the Keyblade up, as if to examine it. "Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door, and change the world."

Sora felt his heart lurch, where all of his struggled for nothing? "but that's impossible… how did this happen? I'm the one who fought my way here using the Keyblade!" he protested desperately.

Riku laughed, "You were just the delivery boy" he scoffed.

The silver haired boy pulled out a wooden sword, "Sorry, your part's over now. Why don't you go play hero with this?"

He threw the sword at his friend, and it landed at his feet. The brunet looked at it; the wooden sword was the toy that he and Riku had sparred with back on the islands.

Sora fell to his knees, _after all this… I'm still not strong enough. I'm still… no match for him. I'm back to where I started… _he felt tears well up in his eyes. _I'm still weak. _

"Goofy, let's go." ordered Donald. "We have to remember our mission." He said sternly.

Goofy gave him a sad look, "Oh! Well I know the king told us to follow the key and all… but…" he glanced at Sora.

The ducks expression contained a combination of pity and remorse, but he walked forward, following Riku. He only stopped for a moment and looked back, "sorry Sora…" he said sadly.

Now the brunet was alone with the beast, his friends were long gone, and he was left... abandoned.

_I can't blame them for leaving… I'm not fit to be the Keyblade master._

The tears in his eyes threatened to spill over, but then he heard the beast next to him shifting. The large furry creature was trying to stand.

"wait don't move! You're hurt!" he yelled.

"Why… Why did you come here…? I came… to fight for Belle." said the creature, in a deep, slightly raspy voice.

The creature stood up on two legs, "and though I am on my own, I will fight! I will not leave without her. That's why I'm here." He declared.

The brunet's eyes widened, _that's right… with all that's happened, I've forgotten that the reason I'm here… is not because of the Keyblade… I'm here because I need to find someone important to me._

The boy smiled and wiped his tears; he grabbed his wooden sword and stood beside the beast. "Me too, I can't give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me." The creature nodded his head, and seemed to give him his grunt of approval.

_And I'm not leaving without her._

**_"Keep smiling ok? Riku can't win forever."_**

* * *

_Riku:_

"Hey wait up!" yelled the duck.

Riku looked back and shot him a glare, "why? You guys are the ones following me." He said coldly.

"—well, yeah but, don't you at least want to know why?" asked Goofy.

The silver haired boy smirked, "it's because I'm the Keyblade wielder, right? Hmph, it's funny how easily you betrayed Sora; well you reap what you sow, after all."

He felt liberated; he no longer had any sense of pity or sadness for his once "best friend". The only thing he wanted now was for Sora to experience the loneliness and betrayal that he had gone through. He wanted Sora to _beg, _he wanted him to beg on his hands and knees for his forgiveness. He would be so overcome by pain, and self hate that he would have no choice but to beg for it.

"What's the big idea!? You know Sora was real' worried about you, and he said a lot of good things, but you're just a big jerk!" Donald fumed; his feathers were all ruffled up from his outburst.

Something inside Riku felt pained; it was like part of him still wanted to believe that his friend _had_ cared about him all along. He pushed the feeling to the side, he didn't want it to be there… he didn't want fool himself any longer. He didn't care if that feeling got swallowed up by the darkness never to be seen again, he just wanted to be freed from the chains that Sora had him in.

Riku grabbed his chest; a deep pain filled it.

**_"Don't believe them… They are lying, not once has he ever thought of you. Why should you think of him?"_**

"Um, are you ok Riku?" asked the dog, sounding worried.

Riku would not look up, suddenly his body had begun to feel really strained, and his breath was coming out in gasps.

"Lies… He, he replaced me just like you guys did to him. Now he'll know how it feels… to have your trust betrayed by someone who you put all your faith in."

Donald and Goofy exchanged a sad expression, "That's not true, uh—you see… Sora cares about all of his friends a lot, Hyuck!"

Riku snarled, "Shut-up! What do you think you know about him, _nothing_, that's what! You've been with him only for this journey; I've been with him his _whole life_! Don't talk about him like you know anything!" he spat.

He hated the fact that they were talking about him so familiarly, they didn't know him. They weren't the ones that Sora reached his hand to, they weren't the ones that he cried on when he had a nightmare, they weren't the ones that had finally been accepted by someone, someone who didn't judge, or hate; they didn't know Sora, at least... not the way _he _knew him.

"Um—well since you know Sora so well, then shouldn't you know the best, how nice he is?" asked Goofy, being completely unaware of the anger rising in Riku.

The silver haired boy clenched his hands into a fist and turned away from them. "You don't understand… it's _because_ I know him so well, that it hurts so much…" he whispered.

He could sense Sora and the beast nearby.

_Why haven't you given up yet?_

But he didn't care, this was just what he wanted, a one on one fight with Sora, but first he would need to get rid of the beast.

He watched from a higher floor as the two entered the ballroom, "sorry beast, but Sora is the only one I need."

Riku brought his hand up, and a door opened. The one who stood there was the one that the large creature had been desperately searching for.

"Belle!" he heard the beast shout.

The silver haired boy smirked, and the beautiful princess turned into a shadow heartless. The beast became infuriated and chased after the shadow, just like the boy anticipated.

When the beast had passed through the doors, the boy slammed them shut.

He jumped down from the spot that he had been watching them from.

"Why didn't you go back?" he said coldly.

Sora whipped around, "why are you doing this!?" he shouted.

The taller boy chuckled, "I'm so _very sorry_ that I ruined your adventure."

Sora shot him a cold look, "I know you think I'm just fooling around, but I'm here to save Kairi." He said sternly.

Riku glared at him, and darkness started to form at his feet. "You're no match for the darkness. It'll destroy you."

He allowed the dark aura to engulf his body. His clothes had changed; it was like the darkness had _fused_ with his body.

"No it won't Riku, I'm here to save Kairi, and nothing is going to stop me. Not even the darkness… even if it destroys my body, it can't touch my heart!" The brunet said; not once losing eye contact.

_How can you have so much confidence? All you have is a wooden sword! Why haven't you broken yet!?_

"Hah, don't make me laugh!" Riku scoffed.

He raised his arm and launched a dark orb at Sora. The aura was traveling to fast to be evaded, he would definitely be hit.

But it didn't, before the orb could hurt him; Goofy had protected him from it with his shield.

"Nothing is going to happen to my buddy, Sora!" the dog barked out.

Riku clenched his teeth, "Don't you remember your king's orders? You would betray him so easily?" he sneered. This wasn't part of his plan.

"Not on your life! But I'm not going to betray Sora, either, 'cause he's become one of my best buddies after all that we've been through together!" the dog said, while giving a thumbs up to Sora.

Goofy turned to Donald, who was still standing next to the boy.

"See you later, Donald! Could you tell the king I'm really sorry!" he shouted.

Donald's eyes grew wide, "wait, Goofy! We'll tell him together!" he ran towards his two friends.

He stood in front of Sora and looked up at him, "Well, you know… all for one and one for all." He said happily.

"A-hyuck, I guess you're stuck with us!" laughed Goofy.

Even from where Riku stood, he could tell that Sora was close to tears; it sickened him.

"Thanks a lot… Donald… Goofy…" the brunet said wiping tears that threatened to spill.

Anger rose inside of Riku; _why!? Why does he get off so easily!? _

"how will you fight without a weapon?" he sneered.

Sora looked up at his former friend, "I know now I don't need the Keyblade. I've got a better weapon, my heart!" he said confidently.

The silver haired boy chuckled, "Hmph, your _heart_? What good will that weak little thing do for you?" he said coldly.

The brunet looked at his empty hand, "although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made." He smiled and looked to the two friends beside him.

The brunet squeezed his hand into a fist and placed it on his chest. He looked at Riku confidently, "I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine, and if they think of me now and then… if they don't forget me… then our hearts will be one." He held his wooden sword up in fighting stance.

"I don't need a weapon! My friends are my power!" he shouted out.

The Keyblade in Riku's hand started to shine, and he felt its weight start to lighten.

His eyes grew wide, _No, his heart can't be stronger than mine! _

The Keyblade appeared in Sora's hands.

"Riku… stop what you're doing… I don't want to hurt you." Sora dropped his stance and reached his hand out.

The silver haired boy clenched his teeth and squeezed his hands into a fist. "Don't be an idiot! As if you could ever hurt me!"

He took out his original weapon, and slashed at the air, causing waves of darkness to shroud Sora and his friends.

Riku ran off, his body beginning to feel strained and heavy once more.

_What's wrong with me!? Why do I feel so weak? _

He felt his heart thumping loudly inside his chest, _why did my heart lose to him? Am I—am I weaker than him!? _He clenched his teeth, _I need more power! _

**_"Open your heart to the darkness."_**

A hooded figure stood in his way. The man or creature was shrouded in a brown cloak.

Riku stopped running and stood in front of him, still gasping for air.

**_"Know this. The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade."_**

Pain surged through the boy's body, but he fought the urge to fall to his knees.

"W-what… are you saying that my heart is weaker than his?" he asked, denial in his voice.

**_"For that instant, it was…"_**

Riku shook his head; he had always been stronger than Sora… so why now?

_That's impossible… I was chosen before him. I was given that power… it was mine._

**_"However, you can become stronger. You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness; it held no terror for you. Plunge deeper into the darkness and your heart will grow even stronger. Then you can have your revenge on that petty boy who betrayed you."_**

He felt his body freeze, _Sora made his choice… I mean nothing to him. Friendship means nothing to him; I'm always being constantly replaced. He doesn't care… he's never cared… Not for me, or Kairi. _

"What should I do?" Riku felt his body become empty, he didn't care what happened now, he had been betrayed by his best friend. All he wanted was an end to his pain, a means to become stronger and protect the one person that still needed protection. If this hooded figure could provide it, by all means he would let him.

**_"It's really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness; that is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself." _**

Riku felt power pulse within him, but not like before. This time as the power pulsed into him, he felt his consciousness wane. He felt as though his heart and body were plunging farther and deeper into the darkness.

_No… something is wrong… this isn't right. _The hooded figure walked closer to Riku; he placed a cloaked hand on his shoulder.

**_"Don't resist, allow yourself to become one with the darkness."_**

The world around him started fading into black; the last thing he saw was the bright smile of a familiar brunet.

_"Best friends forever, right Riku?" _

"Sora…" he whispered.

* * *

_Sora:_

The trio had scrambled around the castle after meeting Riku for the second time.

While they were searching for Riku and Kairi they had finally caught up with Maleficent.

_She definitely had to be the one to make Riku act like this._

The witch had tried to destroy the three heroes but was defeated, but before Sora could question her the witch disappeared into a dark portal. The brunet knew the only way that he was going to find Kairi, and the answers to why Riku was on the side of darkness, was to follow her.

Sora gripped his Keyblade, _I don't know what's on the other side… but I'm ready for it._

The trio walked through the portal; what they saw was a dimly lit room with a large copper heart shaped contraption in the middle.

The missing princesses lined the walls; they were crystalized and asleep in their chambers. As he walked deeper into the room he was just in time to see Riku thrust a black Keyblade into Maleficent's chest. The dark witch screamed out in agony, and black flames started engulfing her.

Soon she was reduced to no more than a cloak.

"Fool, you were swallowed by your own dark heart in the end." Riku chuckled.

Sora's eyes widened, "Maleficent… disappeared?" he said, not quite believing his eyes.

The brunet ran up the stairs to the platform where his friend stood. Goofy and Donald followed him, but Goofy was blocked from entering the area. An invisible barrier stood between him and his friends.

When the brunet got to the top of the platform, something—no _someone _caught his eye, making him forget all else.

Kairi lay in the middle of the room, unconscious.

Sora ran up to her, "Kairi!" he shouted out.

He proded her body but the girl would not move; her skin was cold; it was almost as if the girl had died, the only evidence against it was her breathing; though it was shallow, it was still evident.

"Kairi open your eyes!" the boy pleaded.

"It's no use… that girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up." said a voice behind him.

Sora turned around and saw Riku perched up the copper heart portal.

"…Riku?"

His friend sounded different, his voice was deeper, and he gave off a dark, foreboding aura.

"The Keyhole cannot be completed… so long as the last princess of heart still sleeps." Riku jumped off the portal, and slowly descended to the ground.

Sora looked at the girl laying on the floor, "the princess? Kairi's a princess!?" the boy questioned; he couldn't believe it, all this time. He had been friends with a princess!

"Yes, and without her power the Keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time that she awakened." The silver haired boy said darkly.

Sora glared at the boy in front of him, _this isn't Riku… Who is he!? _

"You're not Riku! Whoever you are, let him go, give Riku back his heart!" he shouted.

Everything made sense now; this was why his friend was acting so strange.

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart." The boy aimed the dark Keyblade at Sora and he felt something inside him budge. Pain shot through him, and he fell to the ground on his knees; Donald went to his side immediately.

"What—" the brunet's voice came out strained.

"Don't you see yet, the princess' heart is responding! It has been there all along, Kairi's heart rests within you!"

Sora felt a throbbing feeling in his chest, "Kairi—Kairi's inside me?" he placed a hand on his chest; _Kairi's been with me… all along._

"I know all that there is to know." said the silver haired boy in a dark, sinister voice.

The brunet could barely speak, the pain was too much, "T-tell me… who are you?" he managed to choke out.

The boy smirked, "it is I, Ansem the seeker of darkness!" he proclaimed proudly.

Sora's eyes grew wide, _wait that name… Is he the same Ansem from the report!?_

The man possessing Riku walked toward the brunet.

Donald, wanting to protect his friend charged towards him; only to be flung outside the barrier with ease.

Riku—no Ansem, stood in front of Sora now; he pointed his Keyblade at the brunet.

"So, I shall release you now princess. Complete the Keyhole with you power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!"

Sora couldn't move, shock and pain had him frozen stiff.

The silver haired boy prepared his weapon; he pulled it back and struck down at Sora.

**_"Sora!" _**

Kairi's voice called out and woke Sora from his daze.

Before the dark Keyblade could hit, the brunet brought his own weapon up and blocked the attack. He pushed against the other Keyblade, he started to stand.

"Forget it… There is no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" he pushed off the other boy's weapon.

The two boys stood face to face, ready to fight.

Sora had lost countless times against his best friend before, but now… he couldn't afford to. If there was ever a time to beat Riku, it had to be now.

The silver haired boy dashed toward him, it wasn't his typical move; Riku was always one to wait and counter, but this time he dashed forward full speed, weapon in hand.

Sora tried to evade him, but in a split second Riku was beside him ready to strike. The brunet blocked the attack and made the boy recoil back a few steps.

_This Riku is faster. _

Sora took advantage of the small opening he had, he lunged forward to strike; only to have the silver haired boy jump back. The moment his feet touched the ground, Riku dashed forward and slashed at Sora twice; dark power was emitted from the weapon and struck the brunet.

Sora was blown back, and a metallic taste filled his mouth.

"Do you really think you can beat me? You could never do it before, what makes you think you can challenge me now." said the silver haired boy in a distorted voice.

A small trail of blood ran down Sora's lip, "That's true… I could never beat Riku… He was always better than me and stronger than me… but…" he looked up and glared at the imposter. "You aren't Riku!" Sora stood up and dashed forward, avoiding the strike that the silver haired boy tried to make; he lashed out at his former friend. The blow pushed Riku against the wall.

The silver haired boy started to laugh, but his voice was even deeper now, "I may not be Riku, but I still possess his body. I find it amusing at how easily you are able to injure a _close friend_."

Sora bit his lip, _shut up._

"Did it ever once cross your mind that, this carelessness was what drove your beloved friend into the darkness?"

_Shut up. _

The silver haired boy smirked, and this time when he spoke, the boy spoke in his original voice. "All I did was search for Sora… but not once, did he search for me."

The last sentence enraged the brunet; he flung his Keyblade at the silver haired boy.

"**SHUT UP!**" he shouted angrily.

The weapon successfully struck the imposters abdomen, causing him to bend forward. He coughed out fluids and struggled to breath.

"Don't you _dare _use his voice to say whatever you want!" the brunet snarled.

The silver haired boy started laughing once again, and a dark aura surrounded him, he looked up and his pupils were smaller; he looked deranged.

"Ha! What you don't know, is that those were his exact words! The boy felt neglected by you all along! _Don't you see_?! **_You_** drove this boy to darkness!" he laughed.

Sora's eyes grew wide; was it true? Was it really his fault that his best friend had become possessed by this—this thing?

The silver haired boy continued laughing; he raised a shadowy hand up and started to walk toward Sora.

He rapped his hands around his neck and stared icily into his eyes. He started squeezing his hands around the brunet's neck, slowly chocking the life from him.

This time, when he spoke; his voice sounded like a distorted mix of Riku's along with Ansem's.

"Who needs… a useless hero like you; not even able to save a friend from the darkness… how pathetic." He smiled and flung Sora against the wall.

The brunet did not move, _was it all… really my fault? Riku… felt neglected? I drove Riku into the darkness, is it really my fault he's like this!?_

**_"Sora, don't give up! The only one who can save Riku is you!"_**

Sora's eyes grew wide; he started to get up, his legs were shaking but he refused to fall.

"Maybe… it is my fault… that Riku became like this. I… was careless. But, that doesn't mean I can't fix it. I won't allow someone important to me get hurt!"

He looked up and glared at the imposter. "I'm going to defeat you, and I'm going to set Riku free!" he boldly declared while pointing his Keyblade.

The other boy snarled, "Fool, you can't save him now!" he dashed forward.

The two boys continued to clash, but it was different now. Some new strength sparked in Sora, he was pushing Riku closer and closer to the edge. The silver haired boy started relying more and more on dark power, but to no avail.

Riku's breathing was becoming more and more erratic, and both boys were covered in harsh wounds.

Sora dashed forward, this time the silver haired boy was too battered to evade the attack.

_I'm going to save you… Riku. _

The brunet struck Riku's chest and flung him towards the center of the room.

The boy stood, gasping and panting; blood was dripping from a scratch on his head, he looked like he was attempting to strike again, but when he took a step forward he collapsed.

Sora had won.

"Riku!" the brunet ran towards his fallen friend.

He turned him over and noticed a large gash on his stomach; his eyes were glazed over and he was unconscious, but he was breathing.

Sora's vision began to blur as tears filled his eyes; he moved Riku's hair out of his face. "It'll be ok Riku… Please don't hate me, it was the only way I could get you back…" maybe it was his imagination, but for a moment he thought he saw the silver haired boy smile.

A tear dropped onto Riku's cheek, _I'm so sorry…_

"Sora, the Keyhole!" yelled Goofy.

The brunet looked up, the large heart shaped portal started to flash lights and make crackling noises.

Sora stood up from his position, he walked towards the Keyhole and aimed his Keyblade at it.

_No reaction. _

"The Keyhole's not finished yet!" shouted Goofy.

"What can we do?" asked Sora.

"Maybe we need to wake Kairi up?" suggested the dog.

Sora looked toward the unconscious girl, "I think you're right… if we can free her heart… but how?"

Sora looked back at Riku; his eyes grew wide as he saw the boy start to move again.

"Thi—this Keyblade can unlock people's hearts. You're going to have to free Kairi's heart to finish the Keyhole." Though the distorted voice came out strained, he still smirked, as if his plan was going along just fine.

He held up the Keyblade for the brunet. Sora looked at the Key uncertainly, but he walked towards Riku.

He took the Keyblade from his hand, "wait Sora what are you doing!" yelled Donald.

The brunet held up the dark Keyblade; he looked back at his friends and smiled.

"Don't worry, as long as you two are here. I'm sure there will be a way." he said confidently.

Sora aimed the Key at himself; _this is the only way… Goodbye Kairi… Riku… I'm sorry…_

Sora inserted the dark Keyblade into his chest. He felt something inside him click, and suddenly he felt the world around him fade to black.

The last thing he recalled was someone yelling out his name as he fell.

**_"Sora!"_**

**End of Chapter Seven**

* * *

Sora is gone! In one last heroic attempt, he's sacrificed himself in hope of saving his friends and the worlds. What will Riku think when he finds out? And Kairi, she should be free now! This tale will come to an end in one final climactic chapter, where light battles darkness, and friendships are torn apart. But is this really the end, or does this mark only the beginning of a long winding journey ahead?

**Next Chapter- Chapter Eight: Close the Door, We'll Meet Again**

_**Authors Note: **_

I'm actually really proud of how far this story has gotten. And it's kind of sad to see it slowly reaching its end. But I'm also really excited to release the next one continuing the journey in Castle Oblivion. I would like to give a big thank you to all of you who have stuck by me all this time and have even reviewed/followed/favorited this story! You guys are the reason that this has gone so far, so you guys deserve a big hug! The next chapter is the final one, and I really hope you guys enjoy these last two.

**Review/PM me if you have any questions or comments!**


	10. Chapter 8: Close the Door

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy, or any of their characters. **

After Sora's sacrifice, Riku has all but given up. Kairi on the other hand, refuses to believe he's gone. In this final chapter, what is to become of the three friends? Will they be able to step through the door to the light, or will they forever walk the shadows like those who came before them?

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Close The Door, We'll Meet Again**

_Riku:_

He was encased in darkness; there was nothing left to see, he felt nothing but emptiness. Was this what he wanted? In this shadowy realm, in the confines of his heart; he couldn't feel anything, he was no longer chained to Sora. He stared blankly up into the darkness that ensnarled him.

_It's so quiet… _

_All I have to do is lie here…_

_No more pain…_

**_"I won't allow someone important to me get hurt!"_**

_That voice…_

He listened to the familiar voice echo through the empty space.

_Sora…?_

_I'm important… to him…?_

_But… he betrayed me… he replaced me…_

He lay motionless a while longer, allowing the familiar voice to soothe him, he almost felt like going to sleep. Even if it was a lie, it felt nice to hear Sora say something like that about him.

**_"It'll be ok Riku… Please don't hate me; it was the only way I could get you back…"_**

Hate him? Hate was a strong word, and no matter how much he wanted to, he knew that he could never hate Sora, even when he was being manipulate by the witch he could never find it in his heart to hate his best friend. What he felt for him was… indescribable, he didn't understand it himself.

But why was Sora trying to console him? What did he mean by "getting him back"? What was he talking about? Locked in his own subconscious, Riku was unable to see or feel the battle that had taken place between "him" and Sora.

He felt a tear fall on his cheek, so he raised his hand to his face slowly. He didn't feel tears well up in his eyes, so why was he crying?

He touched his cheek, and surprisingly it was dry… but he could swear that there were tear drops falling on his face, one even rolled down the side of his cheek. Riku's eyes opened wide, the salty water droplets on his face weren't his.

_These are Sora's tears… Sora is crying… for me? Despite everything that's happened… he is crying… for me?_

He felt a warmness fill his chest, and his face reddened at the thought.

_Of course I'm important to him… I was a fool to think otherwise…_

_I believed everyone else… except him; he's been searching for me and worrying about me all along, with that goofy grin of his… thinking everything will be fine no matter what._

A warm smile lit his face. He started to stand up and look around. Darkness seemed to go on for eternity.

_And because of my foolishness, I'm stuck here._

A picture started to form in the darkness, he could finally see what was happening, but what he saw… he would have preferred to have never witness. His blood ran cold.

_Sora?_

The brunet was aiming a dark Keyblade at the center of his chest.

_No, Sora don't!_

He ran toward him with his hand outstretched but he was powerless to do anything; every step he took forward, the image would move further back, like a mirage. All he could do was watch, as the boy impaled himself with the weapon.

Sora's body started to shine and small orbs of light drifted out of him; his body slowly collapsed.

Kairi, who was now awake, ran towards him, but his body dissipated into small light fragments just before she could catch him.

**_No! _**

Riku stood wide-eyed and trembling; tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Sora was gone, and he was powerless to do anything. He clutched his head in his hands, _he's gone, Sora is gone! No, no, he can't be! It's not real, it can't be real!_

Dark, shadowy hands rapped around Riku and started pulling him back into the shadowy abyss.

_No—let me go!_

He noticed something was happening in the vision in front of him. It was moving closer to Kairi; Donald and Goofy stood in front of her defensively. He growled and tore off the hands that threatened to take him away. He ran forward, toward the vision.

Suddenly, the world around him turned normal again.

**"No, you won't—use me for this!"** Riku's will power stopped Ansem from moving any further.

_I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else!_

"Riku!" shouted Kairi.

He looked at her; he could feel the darkness surrounding the room, heartless were closing in.

**"You've got to run! The—the heartless are coming!"**

Shadows started to appear around them, the red-headed girl looked around uncertainly. She then looked Riku in the eyes; she gave him a firm nod.

He knew what she wanted to say, _"You better make it back too." _

Riku smiled and gave a slight nod as well, though he wasn't completely certain that he could follow through with her demand.

She still looked conflicted, but Donald and Goofy were practically dragging her now, she looked back as she left the room, her eyes flashing with worry and concern.

"I'll be ok…" he whispered.

**"Know your place, you insolent brat." **

He felt a harsh tug and he was pulled back into the dark abyss.

**"What's the point in fighting anymore? He who is most important to you is gone, just allow yourself to fall into darkness. There is no hope."**

Riku wanted to fight back; he wanted to retaliate, to shout out "No! There is always hope, he can't be gone!" but he couldn't, not after witnessing _him _fall, watching him disappear and shatter, and it was entirely _his_ fault.

He felt his will-power diminish, the dark man was right… The one person who mattered most, the one person he wanted to protect no matter what, was gone. There _was_ no hope, he felt himself grow weak, and once again he allowed himself to succumb to the darkness.

* * *

_Kairi: _

The girl raced behind the two characters that she came to know as Donald and Goofy. Being within Sora all along, she knew them pretty well. They were now at the entrance hall of the castle. But something stopped her from going any further.

"Come on Kairi, it's not safe!" yelled Goofy.

The red-head bit her lip and looked back, "I can't just leave them behind!"

_Sora and Riku are still back there! I can't just abandon them! _

"But heartless are chasing us!" shouted Donald.

The girl clenched her fist, _but I can't let myself get caught again, then their sacrifices will be in vain!_

She turned and ran towards the two characters, when she reached them a heartless appeared from one of the doors.

Donald stood in front of her, "don't worry I'll get it!" he yelled.

Kairi looked at the shadow; for some reason, she wasn't scared of it. In fact, the shadow seemed, familiar in a way. She walked towards it, despite Goofy and Donald's protests.

She bent down to look at the creature, she even pet it's head. The small heartless didn't harm her; on the contrary, it seemed to purr at her touch.

_This heartless… I know who it is… It has to be… _"Sora… this heartless is Sora!" her face beamed with happiness, she hadn't lost him!

But it was too early to celebrate; a large amount of shadows circled the group.

Kairi stood by the heartless that she claimed was her friend, "Don't worry Sora, this time; _I'll_ protect _you_."

The heartless lunged toward Kairi and the shadowy creature.

The girl bent down and protected the shadow, "Sora!" She embraced the heartless, and despite the shadows that covered her; she felt a warm, familiar light emit from the creature she held, dispelling the heartless.

When she opened her eyes she realized that she wasn't holding a heartless anymore; _Sora_ was holding _her_.

"Kairi… thank you…" She felt the brunet tighten his hold on her, and she felt her face heat up and tears fill her eyes.

"Sora…"

_You're ok… you gave me such a scare! I don't know what I'd do without you… _

But they weren't out of harm's way yet; many heartless still surrounded the group. They prepared themselves to fight, and Sora stood in front of Kairi to keep her safe.

A large roar rung throughout the castle, the beast had appeared again. He ran in and destroyed some of the heartless, "Go, now!" he growled.

"Come with us!" urged the brunet.

The beast snarled at the boy's comment, "I told you before, I'm not leaving without Belle!"

Kairi looked at the creature, she understood how it felt, she wouldn't want to leave without Sora either.

"Now go! The heartless are coming." The beast roared.

The brunet looked unsure, but he eventually nodded, "All right…"

Sora turned to Kairi, "let's get out of here."

The group barely escaped Hollow Bastion, but while they sat in the gummi ship and exited the world, Kairi couldn't shake off the feeling that she had been there before. Something about the place gave her a warm, elating feeling; as if she belonged there.

She glanced at Sora; she noticed that the usually happy brunet seemed extremely focused, as if he were planning something in his head.

"Worried about Riku?" she asked, though she knew that had to be the reason.

The brunet blinked as he was snapped out of his thoughts, he blushed, "Yeah I'm sorry, I finally found you and all I want to do is talk to you and tell you about all the adventures I went on but, I can't be happy without having both of you back."

Kairi flashed him a sympathetic smile and grabbed his hand, "I know how you feel, and I'm worried too. We'll save him, and then we'll all go on adventures together. We just have to keep believing." She squeezed Sora's hand. The boy blushed and gave a small nod.

She remembered that Riku had never taken much of a liking to her, and for a long time it felt like both of them were competing for Sora's attention, but… Riku protected her.

She always thought back to the time when Sora had defended Riku from Tidus' insults. The brunet had sworn that the silver haired boy was a kind and caring person; up until now, she had rarely seen that side of him.

But that smile he gave her, the way he protected her, she understood what Sora had meant now. Even back at the islands, despite his grudge for her he always seemed to come to her aid when she was in trouble.

She felt an uneasy feeling sink into her stomach, _Riku really is a nice guy… and all this time, I have never noticed it. Sora almost disappeared… and Riku is being controlled… all for me… I want—I want to do something for them too… _

Her eyes started to water, Sora seemed to notice that fact. The brunet wrapped his arms around her and placed a hand on the back of her head.

"He'll be ok… We'll all be ok, I promise." He whispered.

Her heart pounded in her chest, and she prayed that Sora couldn't hear it; her face heated up, she closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I know we will." She said as she returned the embrace.

* * *

_Leon:_

"Tell me what happened."

Leon leaned against the wall with his arms crossed; Aerith and Yuffie were also in the room.

The small brunet stood in front of him. He along with Donald and Goofy had returned from Hollow Bastion, bringing along a girl with short red hair and brilliant blue eyes.

The girl must be the "Kairi" that Sora had been desperately searching for. So, her along with another boy are his two most important people.

He couldn't help but feel a little jealous about that, he couldn't exactly pin point why though.

But at the moment the younger brunet was in the process of explaining everything that had occurred in Hollow bastion; his past home.

He took in everything that he had said, "So the darkness is flowing out of that keyhole." He finally said after listening to Sora.

Aerith looked toward the two, "No wonder there are more and more heartless everywhere. The only way to stop them is—"

"Seal the Keyhole, right?" Sora interrupted, holding out his Keyblade.

Leon closed his eyes, thinking through everything he knew from the reports and firsthand experience. He sighed, "Maybe, but no one will know what will happen once it's sealed."

The brunet glared at him, "Well we can't just stay here! We've got to do something, I've got a friend back there!" he shouted impatiently.

Despite the smaller brunet's outburst, Leon remained calm and collected. "That's right. You've got one more friend to worry about. Riku's Keyblade must have been born from the captive princesses' hearts—just like that Keyhole you saw. Of course, without Kairi's heart, it remained incomplete. Once that Keyblade was destroyed, the princesses' hearts should have been freed."

The man gave the boy a reassuring look, "don't worry Sora. If anyone can save your friend, you can."

The boy smiled back at Leon's statement.

Sora had changed a lot on his journey. He was very uncertain at first, but now… now he knew what he had to do, and he accepted it whole-heartedly. Leon was kind of proud of him. Even though he himself did not have much confidence in Sora when they had first met, he couldn't imagine anyone else more fitting for the role as a Keyblade wielder.

He stood straight and placed a hand on Sora's head. "You've gone a long way, but it's still not over yet."

The boy blushed and Leon started to leave the room, but before he did he went up to Kairi. "Make sure to take care of him, you should know he's a handful." He said quietly enough for Sora not to overhear.

Kairi giggled and nodded her head.

Sora gave them a questioning look, but Leon didn't wait for him to ask; he walked out of the building. He knew their journey was ending soon, and it was a good thing, but… he couldn't shake off the pang of sadness that he felt.

_I'm going to miss that kid._

* * *

_Sora:_

Sora and Kairi sat at the water's edge in the secret water ways. The brunet had been showing Kairi around Traverse town and he saved this place for last; he felt that it was a bit similar to their secret place back home.

The two sat in silence, not an awkward silence but one that allowed them to appreciate each other's presence. After all, the one that he had been looking for all this time… his most important person was right beside him. But, despite being relieved that she was safe, he wasn't happy… as long as Riku was still missing he could never be happy.

_I've been with Riku ever since we were kids… and now…_

Kairi moved her hand closer to Sora's; the boy felt it and flinched, pulling his hand back. He had done it subconsciously, and now that he noticed what he did, he was embarrassed.

His face beamed red, "I-I uh didn't mean to—I guess I'm just on edge, I'm sorry!" he stuttered.

The red-headed girl only giggled, her cheeks were also a light shade of crimson; she placed her hand back on her lap.

"I was just worried about you. You've been in a daze ever since we left that place…" she said looking away from Sora; her gaze rested on a mural painted on the wall at the far end of the tunnel.

Sora looked down; _I know I should be paying attention to Kairi. I am happy that I found her—but…_

"Of course it's only expected for you to be worried right? You guys have been together ever since I can remember!" she said flashing him a smile.

He didn't know why, but it made him feel better to see her smiling; the brunet gave a small smile back. But the boy couldn't help but feel a bit of  
uneasiness; he wanted to rescue Riku as quickly as possible.

He stood up, and held his hand out to the girl. "Come on Kairi, we need to rejoin the others."

The girl gave him a small smile and took his hand, "ok."

Sora started to head out but stopped when he noticed Kairi wasn't following him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

The girl was staring at the mysterious mural again, "The light at the end of the tunnel…" she said, as though she were speaking to herself.

Sora blinked then he realized what the girl was talking about. "Oh, your grandmother's story, right?" he asked.

The girl gave him a shock expression, but it quickly turned into one of content. She probably didn't expect him to remember it.

"That's right… we were together…" she said; her voice sounding distant.

Back on the islands Kairi would tell the two boy's stories that her grandma had told her. Stories about how there was once a warm light that covered the worlds; so many people wanted it for themselves that the light was enshrouded by darkness… but somewhere deep in that darkness, that light had not been extinguished. It lies in wait for someone to set it free.

_That's right… Even in the darkest times, all I have to do is believe in the light and then no darkness can swallow me. _

Sora smiled at the thought, "you know what's funny?" he started walking towards the girl, "I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along. We're finally together Kairi, just like old times." He grinned.

The girls face flushed, but she managed to smile back. "Yeah we are."

Sora's expression turned more serious, "Now… it's time to bring Riku back."

Kairi's smile faded; she looked down at the ground.

"You think it'll ever be the same between us again? Riku's lost his…"

Sora's expression softened, "When I turned into a heartless, you saved me, remember? I was lost in the darkness… I couldn't find my way. As I stumbled through it, I started forgetting things—my friends, who I was… the darkness almost swallowed me. But then, I heard a voice—your voice…. You brought me back."

The red-head flashed him a sad smile, "I didn't want to just forget about you, Sora. I couldn't do it."

The brunet grinned, "That's it!" he placed a hand on his chest. "Our hearts are connected, and the light from our hearts broke through the darkness; I saw that light. I think that's what saved me. No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. I guess it's more than just a fairy tale." He squeezed his hand into a fist, "If your light could reach me, I'm sure ours can reach Riku." He said hopefully.

Kairi giggled, "Well then, let's go!" she said.

Sora's face turned serious; "you can't go!" he shot back.

She placed her hands on her hips, "why not!?" she asked.

The boy's eyes started to dart round the room, as if searching for an answer.

"Because it's way too dangerous!" he blurted out.

The girl crossed her arms in front of her, "come on Sora, we made it all this way by sticking together. You can't go alone."

Sora gave the girl a warm smile, "Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore; Right? Plus… this is something I have to do by myself… Riku is like this because I was careless. He has always been better than me at everything; I figured that he would be just fine and that I didn't need to worry about him. But that was wrong of me, no matter how capable he is, anyone can fall to the darkness. I can't blame him for being mad; after all I would be too if I thought he forgot about me. This is my mistake to fix!" he explained.

"I can't help?" she said, a bit of sadness in her voice.

The boy chuckled, "you'd kinda be my way." He said arrogantly.

The girl giggled, "Okay." was her response. "You win."

She grabbed Sora's hand and placed something in it, "Take this."

What he held was a star shaped coral with his face drawn on it.

Kairi put her hand on her hips and leaned forward. "It's my lucky charm, so make sure to bring it back to me, okay?" she mock-scolded.

A small blush warmed the boy's face; he closed his hand around the object, "Don't worry, I will."

The girl extended her pinky, "promise?" he felt his face grow warmer; he intertwined his pinky with hers.

"Promise."

Kairi smiled at him, "Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you." She said warmly.

The boy smiled back, _I know; no matter what… we will always be together. _

After leaving Kairi with Cid and the others in traverse town, he and his friends set out to Hollow Bastion once more. They had to seal the Keyhole, but when they made it they realized that some people were already there waiting for him.

Leon was leaning on a wall with is arms crossed, Yuffie sat on the broken machine that once controlled the Keyhole, and Aerith stood near the Keyhole; analyzing it.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked.

The trio turned to look at the small brunet.

Yuffie gave him a bright smile, "we came in Cid's ship! Just to say goodbye to you! Now don't you feel special?" she exclaimed.

Sora blushed, the thought of his friends caring so much for him made him happy.

"Don't get your hopes up, that wasn't the only reason. This is our childhood home, we wanted to see it again." Leon explained. "And it's in worse shape than we thought…" he finished.

Aerith gave him a soft smile and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, if we defeat Ansem all should be restored." She turned to Sora, "Even your island home." She said warmly.

Sora's face lit up, "really!?" he exclaimed.

Yuffie looked down, "yeah, but it also means goodbye…"

Aerith gained a sad expression as well, "once the worlds are restored we'll all be separated again…"

Sora gave them a puzzled look, "but wait, can't I just visit you guys on the gummi ship?" he asked.

"It's not that simple. Before you embarked on this journey you didn't know about other worlds correct?" Leon asked.

Sora nodded his head.

"It's because the worlds are isolated, they were separated by walls. The heartless broke those walls, but if the worlds return so will the walls." added Aerith.

"Which means the gummi ships will be useless…" said Leon, closing his eyes.

The small brunet shoulders slumped, and his lips formed a pout. "So you're saying we'll never…"

The boy didn't have the heart to finish his sentence, he looked at his ground; defeated.

Leon opened his eyes and walked towards the boy; he placed a hand on his shoulder. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." He said.

Sora looked up at the man, despite his usually calm demeanor; the boy could see sadness in the taller brunet's eyes.

_Is Leon really going to miss me?_

The two had met under, not so friendly circumstances, but after all they had been through along with Yuffie, and Aerith; they had all learned to become great friends. Sora was sure to miss all of them a lot.

Aerith noticed the sad look that Sora had, "Don't worry, no matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again." She said knowingly.

Yuffie slung her arm around his shoulders, "besides, I couldn't forget you even if I tried!" she joked.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean!" the boy shouted.

The group laughed, even Leon gave a small grunt of laughter.

The moment was interrupted by Goofy and Donald's call advising Sora to seal the keyhole. The brunet turned to them, but before he could walk over to them Leon stopped him.

"Good luck, Sora." He said.

Yuffie ran up to the man and pulled on his cheek playfully, "Squally here is probably going to miss you most of all Sora! But we all know that you'll do great! We'll never forget you, ok?" she said loudly.

Leon gave her a stern look, "I told you to stop calling me that." he said through gritted teeth.

Sora only laughed, "I'll miss you guys a lot too, I'll never forget you; you'll always be right here." He said pointing to his heart.

Leon's face was tinted with a light pink; he pulled the wily girl off of him and turned around to hide his expression.

"Us too… You'll always be in our hearts as well…" his voice was quiet, but Sora heard it.

The boy smiled and turned toward his friends by the Keyhole. He stood in front of the dark portal confidently.

_Once I seal this… will Riku come back? Will everything go back to normal? _

The brunet raised his Keyblade and pointed it at the hole.

_Bring my friend back! _

A ray of light was emitted from the blade, and a loud click was heard from inside the dark portal. The Keyhole started to disappear, but Riku did not come back.

Sora looked down, "Nothing's changed… but why?"

He heard footsteps behind him, and he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

He turned around and noticed Leon behind him, "Don't worry, you'll find him. There's one place left to check, there seems to be darkness pouring out of there. That's my best guess, he must be there." He reassured.

The brunet smiled up to the man, "Thanks Leon, I know I'll find him, thanks for always having my back"

The man placed his hand on the brunets head and ruffled his hair, "you don't need me to watch your back anymore. You've become a great Keyblade wielder, and you'll do fine… I know it…"

* * *

_Leon: _

As soon as he had finished his sentence the brunet smiled up at him and sadness clouded his eyes.

What happened next surprised him; Sora wrapped his arms around Leon and gave him a firm hug.

The man felt his heart lurch in his chest, and his face start to heat up.

_Sora… Good luck… _

The man stood for a while, unsure of what to do, but eventually leaned down and hugged him back, "I'll miss you guys, but I'll never forget any of you." Sora's words were muffled by Leon's shirt. A warm smile lit up his face, "we won't forget you either."

He and his friends watched as the brunet left on the gummi ship to find his lost friend.

Yuffie nudged him in the ribs, "hey Leon, seems like you got pretty attached to little Sora, huh?" she said; a wide grin on her face.

Leon felt his face flush, "w-what are you talking about!" he stammered.

He wasn't one to get easily flustered, and he couldn't fully understand why he was now. Was Yuffie right? Did he have feelings for Sora? Was that even possible? His thoughts were buzzing around in his head, but a warm hand on his shoulder calmed him down.

"Don't make fun of him Yuffie. Of course he's attached to Sora, we all are. Plus Leon trained him all this time; Sora must have been like a son to him." She scolded the raven haired girl.

The girl gave a small pout, "aw come on I was just playing, no need to get so worked up!"

Leon gave a small sigh, _yeah she's right… I've worked with Sora so much, and watched after him; he's like my kid… of course I'm sad to see him go. _

He looked at Aerith and the girl gave him a warm smile, "Don't worry, we all love Sora. I'm going to miss him too." She said knowingly.

Leon's eyes widened, and he turned away from her.

"Hmph, the little brat will be fine…" he said.

_I know he will; he's the Keyblade wielder after all…_

* * *

_Sora: _

The trio made it to what they hoped was the last world. The place was littered with broken pieces of rocks, and the sky and ocean were tainted a dark purple.

On the other side was a bright swirling light, _Kingdom Hearts must be over there. _

"Gawrsh is this all that's left of the worlds taken by the heartless?" said Goofy.

"Those worlds will be restored when we defeat Ansem right?" Sora asked.

"You betcha!" responded Donald.

"But, if we do beat him, and all those worlds become restored and disconnected, what's going to happen to this place, and to us?" he asked.

Donald held his finger up but brought it back down, "well… um…"

Goofy placed an arm on Sora's shoulder. "This is a heartless world, so maybe it'll just disappear."

Sora and Donald gave him a questioning look.

"But no worries! Even if this place goes poof, our hearts ain't goin' nowhere! I'm sure we'll find our pals again. Yup, I just know we will!" the dog reassured.

The brunet smiled, "yeah, you're right." Sora said.

The boy looked down at the good luck charm that Kairi gave to him, _I'll return this, I promise._

The image of the smiling red-head went through his mind, and his heart-beat quickened.

_Kairi…_

After endless searching and running around the world, they finally came upon a regal looking white door. The door was familiar to Sora, before he embarked on his journey, he had dreams where that white door appeared, and a voice would always tell him something… but he couldn't remember what.

Sora walked toward the door, and voice echoed from it. _"Are you ready?" _The voice was the same from his dream.

"Did you guys here that?" the brunet asked.

"I don't hear anything!" said Donald.

"shh, listen." ordered Sora.

_"This is the last haven you'll find here. Beyond, there is no light to protect you. But don't be afraid, your heart is the mightiest weapon of all. Remember, you are the one who will open the door to the light." _

"That voice was so familiar…" the boy muttered to himself.

"I didn't hear anything, I think you need a nap Sora." Donald teased.

The boy ignored the duck's remark, and reached his hand out to open the door.

He swallowed hard, _there's no turning back… _

Upon opening, and stepping through the door, sunshine bathed the three heroes, but there was no warmth in its rays.

Sora looked around; the scenery around them surprised him.

"Is this my island?"

The boy bent down and grabbed a fist full of sand, he watched as the grains fell gently between his fingers.

_It's not an illusion… it's the real thing, this is my home. Or what's left of it._

He looked around and noticed that part of the island still looked normal, but the other part was twisted and warped with darkness. The boy walked toward the secret place that he and his friends used to play in often.

**_This world has been connected. _**

**_Tied to the darkness…_**

**_Soon to be completely eclipsed…_**

**_There is so very much to learn,_**

**_You understand so little._**

**_A meaningless effort,_**

**_One, who knows nothing, can understand nothing. _**

Sora turned around, the isle had disappeared, the water had turned a strange purple color, and the ground had deep crevices in it; the one that stood in the midst of all that… was none other than… _Riku! _

The boy ran toward his friend who had been possessed by the dark researcher.

**_"Take a look at this tiny place. To the heart seeking freedom, this island is a prison, surrounded by water. And so this boy, sought to escape this prison. He sought a way to cross over into other worlds. And he opened his heart to darkness, but let us not forget, you also led him down this path."_**

The boy turned around, and as he did, his figure changed from that of a boy, to that of a large man with long silver hair and tan skin. He looked down at Sora with blazing golden eyes.

The brunet reached his hand out to his friend, "Riku!" he shouted.

The tan man scoffed, **_"don't bother; your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart belongs again to darkness. All worlds being in darkness, and all so end; the heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, grows, consumes it; such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came!"_**

Sora jumped back when he realized that the man was now behind him.

**_"You see, darkness is the hearts true essence!"_** the man declared.

"That's not true!" the boy shouted.

The man crossed his arms and gave Sora an intrigued look.

The boy continued to glare at him, "the heart may be weak, and sometimes, it may even give in. But I've learned, that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!" he shouted.

The dark man chuckled, **_"So you've come this far, and still you understand nothing. Every light must fade, every heart, return to darkness!"_**

A dark shadowy figure appeared behind the tan man.

_You won't win…I'm going to get Riku back and we'll both make it back to the islands… I'll make sure of it! _

Sora and his trio attacked Ansem ferociously, but there attacks were blocked by his heartless servant.

**_"Have you understood yet? It is not possible for you to beat me."_**

Sora glared at him, "oh yeah? Then I guess I'll just have to achieve the impossible!" the boy slashed at the monster and then got out of its way before it could counter.

He left Donald and goofy to fight it while he circled around and got to Ansem.

"I won't let you have Riku any longer, give him back!" he charged forward and slashed at the man.

His attack was easily blocked by a dark shield that he emitted from his hand. The silver haired man only chuckled at the boy's foolish attempt. He shot dark aura at Sora; the boy evaded the attack and dashed towards the man once more.

But this time, the man summoned his heartless, to grab a hold of the boy. Sora couldn't move, the creature held him tightly, he felt his energy being drained from him. It was as if the heartless was sucking out his life.

_No… this can't be... the end..._

A fire ball hit the creature, and it reared back; releasing Sora.

He hit the ground with a thud, he watched as Donald and goofy continued to fight Ansem. His friends had his back, no matter what; he had to continue fighting despite the pain. He couldn't give up, even if it seemed impossible, he would achieve it. He needed to…

The brunet took out a potion and chugged it down quickly.

He ran toward the enemy, _that's right… maybe alone it would be difficult… but I have my friends!_

He cast a fire magic spell at the heartless; while the creature stood stunned him and Goofy slid underneath it and started to attack Ansem.

The man was caught off guard; he was unable to protect himself from their blows. After landing a few hits, Ansem unleashed a dark aura; sending Sora and his friends flying out.

**_"Enough of this foolishness! You know you can no longer save your friend!" _**he yelled out.

Sora stood up, "You're wrong, I know somewhere in there… Riku is ok… I know it's my fault that he became like this… but that just means that it's my duty to get him out! And I will, because he's my best friend, so if saving him means beating you, I will! No matter what the costs!"

* * *

_Riku:_

Again the silver haired boy floated in darkness, it was endless, no light or sound penetrated it. He could not move, all he felt was the cold tug of sleep.

His eyes were clouded; he no longer felt the need to fight.

_There's no reason for me to be here anymore… heh, I should just allow myself to be swallowed up huh? Why fight when… my most important person is gone forever…_

He could still here the sound of Sora's voice ringing through his head.

_In the end, I fought with Sora… it was my fault… I was jealous, I was angry, foolish, deceived, I was… wrong. Sora had cared for me all along; if I had known… If I didn't choose the darkness… would it have been different? _

_Hmph, too late now… But why, why does it hurt so much to see him with others… Why don't I want him to share that smile with anyone but me? I wanted to be… his only reason to be happy…_

He remembered what Kairi had told him once,

_ -"I'd be careful if I were you Riku, hold on to something too tight, and all you'll do is drive it away."_

_She was right; Sora was always one to make friends with everyone. He was always kind, wanting to share his smile with the world. I on the other hand… shut everyone out, I didn't want to get hurt, and I never realized that by doing so, I was hurting others. But when Sora came along, he never criticized me; he never thought I was cold. He continued to smile that big goofy smile of his and he reach out his hand… to me. He dared to take me; the one who was happy being alone, as his first friend. _

_But I guess I was never truly happy being alone, because the minute I took his hand, a feeling of warmth washed over me like never before. I was truly happy, and I never wanted to let anyone else feel that way… I felt that, if I shared it, then it wouldn't be mine's anymore… _

_"Sora… I'm sorry…" _The boy spoke.

He knew no one could hear him, but he was so absorbed in his sadness, and remorse that he didn't care. He wanted the darkness to absorb him, to eat him alive, maybe then he would find Sora once more.

The darkness started to slowly creep over his body, _I guess… this is the end, huh Sora? _

* * *

_Sora: _

The three friends had continued to fight bravely, and their efforts were not in vain, the man had been brought down, and the brunet could tell that was at the end of his rope.

Despite that, Ansem smirked, he stood up and glared at the young boy, **"****_If you think this is over you're wrong!" _**the world around them became enshrouded by darkness.

The only thing visible was a large white door, **_"behold the endless abyss! Within it, lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts! Look as hard as you are able, you'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths, are all hearts born, even yours. Darkness conquers all worlds!" _**

Sora blinked and when he looked, there was a large monster in front of him. Ansem was attached to it.

He suddenly felt the ground fall beneath him, Goofy and Donald were pulled into a dark portal and the brunet plummeted down the endless abyss.

_Is it over? Is it really going to end like this? _

_-"Giving up already? Come on Sora, I thought you were stronger than that." _

He heard Riku's voice ring out in his head, _you're right Riku I am stronger than that! _

Dusts of light surrounded Sora, and he flew upward. He wasn't about to give up when he was so close.

Sora attacked the large beast, and with enough hit's a dark portal opened. He knew that had to be where his friends where, so he flew into it.

Inside, it was pitch black, no light anywhere. But he heard Goofy and Donald's cries around him. They were fighting heartless.

The brunet ran about, fighting heartless of his own, until he finally managed to find them, the three stood back to back and defeated the shadows in the dark. Soon they were in front of the monster once more.

The trio flew up to where Ansem was and started to attack him, this time, he did not have the large heartless to defend him. But his own moves were stronger, despite that Sora managed to block or evade most of his attacks, he was completely focused on defeating Ansem.

_I won't let you win! _

With one more strike of his Keyblade, Ansem was bathed in a bright light.

He screamed out in agony, and then the monster before them disappeared.

Now what stood in front of them was the door to Kingdom Hearts, and Ansem, writhing in agony. Despite his condition, he continued to speak as though he could win.

**_"I-It is futile, the Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness…" _**he turned towards the door, **_"Kingdom Hearts fill me with the power of darkness!"_**

The door started to open, and shadowy aura started to pour out. But Sora held his ground, after everything he had experienced, after looking into the dark abyss and concurring it… he knew, if Kingdom Hearts was the heart of all worlds, there was no way it could be all darkness. There may be shadows lurking within every heart, but that does not change the fact, that in the deepest depths of that heart… even if it's small… there will always be a source of light!

Sora stood strong, and he looked defiantly into the man's eyes. "You're wrong. I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom hearts… is light!" As he spoke, a warm beam of light shot out through the door, engulfing Ansem.

The man was paralyzed, **_"Light— but why!"_** he choked out.

His body chipped off into small pieces of light that faded away, and soon, he was reduced to nothing.

The king of darkness was defeated.

* * *

_Riku: _

He was ready to be taken by the darkness, ready to be completely absorbed into its grasps but suddenly, it loosened its hold on him. It was edging away, and he couldn't figure out why. He stood up slowly, and he heard a familiar voice echo throughout the darkness.

_"You're wrong. I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts… is light!" _

The silver haired boy felt a warm light wash over him, and realization struck him clear as day.

_Sora is… alive!? He's alive! He's ok!_

Light started to surround him and suddenly he woke up on the floor of some place he didn't recognize; around him were dark walls, and at the far end of the cavern was a bright light. But there were heartless everywhere.

"Hurry up we have to close the door!" he heard Donald yell.

The silver haired boy turned toward the sound, he noticed a large white door.

"I-I can't…" said a voice.

_Sora! _

He scrambled up to the door and started to pull, "Don't give up!" he yelled.

He peered past the door at Sora. "Come on Sora, together we can do it!" He reassured.

The brunet eyes grew wide; he was definitely surprised to see his friend, but now was not the time to speak.

Sora gave the boy a firm nod, "okay!" he said. He started to push, and Riku continued pulling on the door.

They were making progress, but it was too slow.

He felt large heartless appear behind him, _no… if we don't close this soon, then darkness will pour out into all the worlds._

Suddenly, he felt the presence of those heartless vanish. He looked back and noticed the silhouette of a mouse holding a key.

"Now, let's close this door for good!" the mouse shouted.

He heard the other two characters on the other side of the door yell out, "the king!"

But he didn't care who that guy was, as long as he made it easier for them to close the door.

"Hurry up and close it!" yelled Donald once more.

"but—" Sora sounded unsure.

"Don't worry, there will always be a door to light!" said the king.

The two characters tried to reassure Sora as well, but even Riku felt his heart lurch. After everything that had happened, he wanted to apologize, he wanted to make things right, but if he wanted to do that he had to start by doing this.

_I won't see Sora… after all this… I still won't see him… who knows if I'll ever see him again? _He gripped his hands into a fist and he continued to pull harder. _No I can't think like that! I will see him again, I know it! If I believe it, as long as he stays in my memory, I know we'll meet again. It isn't the end… _

Sora continued to push on the door; it was close to closing now.

Riku stopped pulling and turned around, _I'm different now… I want Sora to be happy… I want him to share his smile with everyone… If Kairi truly makes him happy, I want him to hold onto her. One day I'll see you guys again. _

He turned towards Sora; the brunet looked him straight in the eyes, his crystal blue orbs were clouded with sadness, just like he imagined his were. He never imagined that he would ever say what he was about to say, but he wanted his friend to be happy; he wanted him to be happy even if it was because of _her_ and not _him._

"Take care of Kairi." Riku said, a sad smile forming on his lips.

Sora looked at him, and gave him a firm nod. With one last push from Sora, the door closed, Riku watched as his friend again, slipped out of his reach. But he knew, that they would meet again, this wasn't the end.

_Goodbye… Sora…_

* * *

_Sora:_

The brunet aimed his Keyblade at the door to Kingdom Hearts, and light washed over it. A large clicking sound was heard from the inside.

The boy looked down, _Riku…_

Sora heard the sound of footsteps behind him; he noticed Kairi was wandering about aimlessly.

Relief flooded over him to see was ok, he ran toward her, "Kairi!" he shouted out.

"Sora!"

He grabbed her hand but, as he did the ground shook and she started to separate from him. He thought quickly, he had to say something to show her that they'll be ok.

"Kairi, remember what you said? I'll always be with you too!" he knew this was goodbye for her as well.

"I know you will!" she yelled.

They tried desperately to hold on, but they knew it was in vain. Their hands could no longer hold onto each other and he watched, as she was taken away on the small piece of their old island.

Small orbs of light started to drift down from the sky, _don't worry Kairi… I'll be back, and I'll bring Riku with me… but for now, goodbye…we'll meet again. _

He felt his throat tighten, and tears brimming his eyes, threatening to come out.

In the end, he was right back where he started.

"I'll miss you… but this isn't the end. I promise." He whispered.

* * *

_Kairi: _

After seeing Sora and having him ripped away from her once more, she watched as she drifted away from him.

Lights started to float down from the sky, and she watched as the trees started to sprout from the ground and stars started to fill the sky once more. The island was starting to return to how it once was, before their adventure.

She looked out to the ocean, her dear friend was no longer visible to her, but she felt his presence, he was still there.

_Goodbye, Sora I'm going to miss you. _She looked down at her hand; he had yet to give her the wayfinder. She smiled, _so that means, that we'll definitely see each other again. After all, _

_You promised. _

The first rays of the sun started to illuminate the sky of a brand new day.

She decided to head down to their secret place. When she got there she marveled at all their old drawings, but one in particular caught her eye.

It was a drawing of her and Sora that they had made long ago, but he had added something to it.

In between them, he drew a paopu fruit.

A lump formed in her throat, and her eyes began to water. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she smiled.

"Come back soon… ok?" she whispered.

She kneeled down and started to scribble her own drawing to add to the picture.

After sketching and scraping the wall she stood up and looked at her work. After all, a paopu fruit's magic only works when shared.

**The End**

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**Review/PM me for any questions or comments!**


	11. Epilogue: The Journey Starts Anew

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Kingdom Hearts, the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Square Enix, Final Fantasy, or any of the characters.**

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**Epilogue: The Journey Starts Anew**

The sun's rays shown down upon the three characters as they walked what seemed like an endless path before them.

Fields of green and open skies surrounded them.

The smallest character; the one with white feathers and a bright blue hat, spoke.

"Well now what do we do?" he looked up sadly at the boy walking next to him.

Though it would have been expected for the boy to sound dejected and sad—he had just lost his two friends after all—the brunet smiled and continued to look forward.

"We've gotta find Riku and King Mickey of course!" he said, as though accomplishing the task was a simple feat.

The larger character—the dog with black fur and a light green hat—looked over at the boy with a worried expression.

"Uh, but, where do we start lookin' for that there door to the light?" he asked puzzled.

All three characters stopped in their tracks; they sighed loudly in unison.

The brunets grin had been wiped clear from his face, but before any negative thought could enter his head, he heard the sound of footsteps ahead. He looked up; in front of the three individuals there was a bright yellow dog with a note in its mouth.

The dog was Pluto, the brunet had met it in the beginning of his journey; his friends at his side greeted the dog. The boy was about to do the same, but before he could, he noticed that the letter that the dog held had a familiar marking on it.

His eyes went wide and he pointed at it when he realized what it was, "The-The kings seal!" he shouted.

"Gawrsh, it is!" yelled the taller friend.

The brunet extended his hand out to the yellow canine, "Come here boy! Have you seen King Mickey?" he asked.

The dog tilted its head slightly to the side and gave him a puzzled expression, but it didn't come near the boy.

Instead, the canine did the opposite; the dog quickly turned around and starting running off, away from the three friends.

The friends looked at each other and smiled, "well what are we waiting for, let's go!" exclaimed the brunet.

He dashed forward, his friends not far behind. As they ran, the promises he made with his friends flashed through his head; he knew that they were to meet again—no matter what.

It seems that the journey that they embarked on… is still far from over…

**Remember, Sora. **

**You are the one who will open the door to the light. **

**End of Book I**

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**Authors Notes (****_Important, Please Read):_**

There it is! This tale has come to an end, but is it really **_the end_**? Well my dear readers, that all depends on you! If you enjoyed this story, and would like to see the continuation of it, please review or PM me what you think! If you don't speak up, I will never know, and I'll assume you didn't like it! Regardless, I'm going to be on hiatus for about a month, so I can finish "A Tale of Hearts: Scattered", but maybe I'll finish faster if you guys encourage me! Though one thing is certain, if there are no reviews or PM's there will not be a continuation to this story, I need proof that you guys are willing to read the next one!

I hope to capture your interests once again in the upcoming tale involving tons of new characters along with new pairings and new obstacles! I hope you'll stick by me to the very end! But if not; it was fun and I'm glad you have given me a chance! This is my first fanfiction, and I'm absolutely giddy to see so many readers from around the world!

I love you all, we'll meet again real soon!

-Lots of Love, LD

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**A Tale of Hearts: Scattered**

After completing his previous journey, Sora gets flung into yet another search. This time, he tirelessly searches for Riku in a strange castle known as "Castle Oblivion". But will he finding him be worth what he'll lose?

Riku on the other hand, struggles with his own problems. With darkness and his strange feelings for Sora still raging inside him, will he be able to step towards the light?

_**Please Review/PM me if you would like me to continue this series!**_


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